Total Drama Rosewood Manor
by Solar Sunrise
Summary: Chris has moved this new season of Total Drama to a mansion deep within the woods of Georgia, U.S.A. With twenty-two brand new contestants making their debut for their chance to win a million dollars, what could possibly go wrong? But that isn't all, what sort of mysteries are hidden within the manor and it's history? Right now: Time seems to be slipping through everyone's fingers.
1. Welcomed and Unwelcomed

**I'm sorry it took a month for me to update this story, work and paying for college has taken up a lot of my time. Thankfully I've gotten a lot of that taken care of so hopefully I can update more often. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the beginning of this new story. Cheers!**

* * *

Chris McLean stood in front of the closed gates of a large manor in the mountains of Georgia.

"What is up Total Drama fans! This series had been going on for a long time now. This show has currently been going on for four years and this new season's marks a very special milestone for the Total Drama crew, it being our eighth season! Now we've had our previous season's take place at summer camps on lone islands, an abandoned film lot, a radioactive island, an artificial island, an island with artificial weather, and even around the world the whole world!" Chris began.

The camera panned out to get a full view of the front of the mansion.

"Now as with the previous season, we've brought in an entirely new cast of contestants to compete in this new season! And the first contestant should be arriving any minute now..."

Just as Chris said, a bus carrying the competing contestants pulled up. A young man stepped off the bus, we was of Japanese descent, and he looked similar to Asuka from the previous season. He had dark brown hair that was neatly combed into a buzz cut and he wore a blue shirt with grey jeans and green cam sneakers.

"Kenji, nice to meet you!" Chris greeted. Kenji gave the host a suspicious look before shaking Chris' hand.

"I saw last season McLean, my sister was able to go far in the game. But now that I know your tricks, I won't fall for them." Kenji said.

"Hehe, whatever you say Kenji." Chris chuckled.

A girl stepped off the bus after Kenji, she wore a white tunic with lace, flowered white tights and a blue flashy skirt and blue sneakers. She also had half of a silver necklace that was in the shape of a heart.

"What's up Emma, is your sister here too?" Chris asked. As if on cue, a girl who looked very similar to Emma stepped off of the bus. She wore nearly the exact same clothes as Emma, though they were a slight bit darker.

"You rang?" The girl asked.

"So you are here! Glad to have you, Felicity." Chris greeted.

"Glad to be here!" Felicity replied.

A boy stepped out of the bus after Felicity. He was tan and muscular, he had a pencil mustache and he wore a tight purple shirt that had a massive V-neck, tight black pants and designer shoes, he also had gold rimmed sunglasses.

"Santiago! What's up man? You like the mansion?" Chris asked.

"Not much." Santiago replied, he put on his sunglasses and looked at the sisters. "And I definitely like what I see."

Kenji knew exactly what Santiago was doing and glared at him. But Santiago was suddenly pushed forward by a girl with pale skin, red contacts, a fishnet t-shirt with a small black vest that bared her midriff and arms. She also wore a long black skirt that went down to her ankles, and long boots that went up to her knees. Additionally, she had several ear piercings, one of which connected to a piercing she had on her nose and another connected to a piercing she had on her lip.

"You can't just stand here all day." The girl hissed.

"Nice entrance Hester!" Chris praised.

"Whatever, can we just get this over with?" Hester replied.

"Sure. Brian, can you come out next?" Chris asked. A boy stepped out of the bus next. He wore a black hoodie over a dark green t-shirt, dark grey ripped jeans and blue sneakers along with black framed sunglasses.

"What's up guys and girls?" Brian greeted, standing with the others.

"It's nice to meet you Brian." Kenji greeted shaking Brian's hand, Felicity waved at him, giving Brian a friendly smile. Emma on the other hand was a bit more quiet.

"Next up is Cherry Ash!" Chris announced. A girl stepped off of the bus this time. She was wearing a cropped and ruffled tank shirt, a blue and green skater skirt and blue sneakers. Her blonde hair that was done in pigtails and ocean blue eyes seemed to give off an innocent demeanor.

"Hi!" She greeted cheerfully, waving at the arrivals. Her eyes immediately took notice of Santiago, who she then began to converse with.

Another girl followed Cherry out of the bus, she looked almost exactly like Asuka, though she didn't wear makeup, unlike Asuka. She also seemed to have a similar facial structure to Asuka. She wore a light orange Furisode and Jean shorts that went down to her kneecaps. She also wore a floral hairclip and traditional wooden sandals.

'So, Sister, you've finally arrived." Kenji said.

"It seems so, Brother." The girl replied.

"Glad to have you here. Ladies and Gents, this is Toshiko, Kenji and Asuka's sister." Chris explained.

Nice to meet you Toshiko." Felicity greeted, Emma even waved to her as well.

"Nice to meet you! Do you mind if I call you T?" Cherry greeted, hugging Toshiko, surprising the Japanese girl.

"It's nice to meet you all." Toshiko returned the greeting, bowing politely. "And you may call me whatever nickname you like. Though I do hope you refrain from calling me an insulting name."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's great. Anyway, here's our next contestant for the season. Everyone give a warm welcome to Shawn!" Chris announced.

"Wait? Shawn?! As in Runner Up of Pahkitew Island, Shawn?" Kenji asked.

"Nope! It's not him. But I will say that it was purely coincidence that the two of them share the same name. In fact, I honestly forgot about that Shawn." Chris admitted.

Everyone was interrupted by Shawn, who had neatly combed brown hair and icy blue eyes. He was wearing a black t-shirt underneath a black sleeveless vest, black dress pants, dress socks and dress shoes. The only clothing on him that wasn't black was grey suspenders.

"Dude, what's with all the black clothes?" Santiago asked. Shawn just shrugged with a grin. He didn't seem to mind at all.

"May I exit now?" A female voice asked.

"Feel free Nanette. You're next up anyway." Chris answered. The girl, Nanette, stepped off of the bus. She was a petite girl that had curly blond hair, light skin, and green eyes. She wore a black beret, a Navy blue blouse with a royal purple skirt, black leggings and navy blue designer shoes.

"Are these the ladies and gentlemen I will be competing against? Well I must say that it is a pleasure to meet you, now while some of you do appear to be a bit uncouth, I do hope we will get along. My name is Nanette, Nanette Manoir." Nanette greeted, doing a polite curtsy and smiling at the teens.

"Yup, she's a prep." Hester sighed quietly.

A boy followed Nanette out of the bus, he wore an unzipped tan trench coat that showed a black dress coat with a red tie, black dress pants, dress shoes and gloves, and he even wore a fedora.

"Here he is, the big man, Mr. Benjamin Vescovi!" Chris greeted. Ben shook Chris' hand and joined the others. He stood farther away from them and remained silent, despite some of the others trying to talk to him.

Meanwhile, the others seemed to be getting along a bit. The sisters were having a casual conversation with Kenji, Toshiko, Nanette and Shawn. Nanette seemed to be praising Toshiko's traditional clothing. Santiago was flexing for Hester and Cherry, while the latter seemed to be impressed, the former was texting on her phone, not even caring.

"Ok people, settle down!" Chris announced. "Here's our next contestant, meet Clara!"

A tan girl came out. Her hair was blonde and went down to her shoulder. Her eyes were sky blue and she was skinny, yet also curvy. She had a blue headband, white shirt and blue skirt with pink leggings, and black knee high boots.

"Hi everyone! It's nice to meet you!" Clara greeted, she went to go join the others. Nanette was quick to notice her outfit. Clara seemed to notice Nanette's inteuige.

"What?!" Clara asked.

"Your clothes. If I had to describe your clothes, I'd say it makes you look like..." Nanette began, Clara looked suspicious, wary of what Nanette was going to say next.

"Creme brulee." Nanette finished.

"What?" Clara asked, she and some of the others were clearly confused.

"You look like creme brulee with blueberries and some strawberry halves with some whipped cream. A very classy meal if I do say so myself, it's one of my favorites! ... Oh, I apologize if I confused you all."

"O...kay? Moving on. Here's our next contestant; Adrian!"

A young man wearing a Navy blue buttoned shirt, black dress pants, black converses and a trench coat stepped off of the bus. His eyes were calm, yet determined.

"Hi Adrian! Nice to meet you dude!" Shawn greeted! Adrian raised his hand to return the greeting, but he didn't smirk or smile...

"Alright, next up is... Jason! Jason, can you come join us please?" Chris asked. Another boy stepped out, he wore a plain grey t-shirt under a black leather jacket with a skull in the back covered in flames with the words 'The Lost and Damned' on it., tattered grey jeans and brown sneakers. His hair was a shaved light grey and his eyes were brown. He was also a little bit pale and he had a few scars on his face.

"What's up?" Jason asked.

Hester looked up from her phone when he stepped off the bus, she raised her eyebrow for a moment and then went back to her phone.

A girl stepped out of the bus next. She wore old, ratty jeans, a faded and oversized blue hood with the Captain America logo on it, and black/white sneakers with neon orange laces. She also wore glasses.

"This is Charlotte." Chris announced.

"She looks like a... pomme de terre..." Nanette said sourly. "How very uncouth..."

Most of the others didn't seem too bothered by Charlotte's appearance. Though there were a few raised eyebrows at Nanette's comment.

"Anyway, moving on, we have our next contestant. Please step off of the bus!" Chris said. A boy hopped off of the bus. Kenji and Toshiko looked shocked to see the boy. He looked very similar to Kenji, though he had a scar on his right cheek. His hair was black and rather messy, he wore a grey t-shirt with a red and black dragon on it, black jeans and purple and black sneakers. He was holding a rather large and lumpy duffle bag with him

"This is Kazuki." Chris said.

"So this is my conpetition." Kazuki said, getting a good look at everyone. "This will prove to be... interesting. But for now I'd say it's good to meet you all. My name is Kazuki, you may address me as such or you can simply call me Kaz." Kazuki explained, he sounded stern and his face was cold and unflinching, which caught Ben's attention. He went to go join his siblings.

"Ah, Kenji, and Toshiko too. It's good to see you two." Kaz said with a smirk.

"Y-you actually sent in an application?!" Kenji said, his new friends noticed his voice cracking a bit. Even Toshiko, who was calm before this was shivering a bit.

"Why Kazuki? Why did you come onto this show?" She asked.

"I came to do what Asuka could not; win. I know it won't be easy, especially when I am competing against you two. But I know that my time here will prove to be... exhilirating!" Kaz answered. Hester looked away from her phone when she thought she saw some rustling coming from Kazuki's bag, Charlotte and Emma seemed to notice this as well.

"Ok everyone, here's our next contestant. Meet Josh!"

Josh stepped off of the bus, he wore a white shirt with a rose on it that was covered by a black leather jacket, a necklace of the Celtics Cross, black sweatpants with red stripes, and black sandals. His long black hair blew by with a small gust of wind.

"Hey guys and girls, guess we're gonna be living the good life for the next few weeks." Josh joked. He went to join some of the others, almost immediately hitting it off with some of the more extroverted contestants. He even made a joke that made Adrian chuckle a little bit.

A girl stepped off of the bus, she wore a white wife beater underneath an unzipped leather jacket with black pants and black combat boots. Her skin was rather pale, her eyes were hazel and her hair was black and a bit messy. She looked a bit bored, as if she didn't really want to be there.

"Hey!" Chris called out, getting everyone to be quiet. "Everyone, this is Chelsea. Chelsea, meet your competition."

Chelsea glanced at everyone without saying a word, she sat away from everyone and began to read a book. Cherry went to go talk to her but Chelsea only gave her a look that seemed to say ' leave me alone'.

"Come on Chris, aren't you going to introduce the next winner of Total Drama?" A boy said as he hopped off of the bus.

The boy wore a dark blue t-shirt with a yellow diagonal line that went from his right shoulder to his left hip, dark green jeans and black/white sneakers. He also had a watch on his left hand and a silver necklace that was connected to a dark blue carving of the number 24.

"Well David, you'd have to beat everyone else to be the winner. But sure, I'll introduce you. Everyone, this is David." Chris replied. David was still getting a few glares from his introductory statement. David went to join the others, purposefully stepping on Chris' foot as he went.

"Gah! ...Jerk..." Chris hissed.

"Um... are you okay?" A girl asked.

The girl wore a white buttoned down shirt that was tucked into a pair of jean shorts, shear black floral patterned tights, a light blue cardigan and light blue sneakers. She was lanky and a bit tall but her height was mostly consisting of her legs and she was also rather boney. Her hair was dyed blue, though you could still see her natural brown hair coming from her roots. Her skin was pale and she had freckles on her nose and shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Oh yeah, guys and girls, this is Andromita, but you can just call her And I for short." Chris said. And I waved to the others, getting some waves back. As she went to go talk to the others, she tripped and accidentally stepped on the same foot David stepped on earlier.

"Oops! Oh my gosh, I'm sorry!" Andi apologized.

"No. No. It's cool, just go join the others." Chris said, taking deep breaths. A few of the teens laughed at his reaction. "Next contestant please..."

The next contestant was a teenage boy that wore a red hoodie with a gold crescent with the point facing downwards on the center. He also had a baseball cap that was the same color and had the same symbol. Aside from that, he wore dark blue track pants and red running shoes.

"Mr. Andrew Quill, good to have you here!" Chris greeted.

"Good to be here." Andrew returned the greeting, he shook Chris's hand. Andrew himself seemed to have a noticeable pride in his voice.

"And last but certainly not least, we have our last contestant. Edward, please come join us." Chris said. The last contestant stepped off the bus, allowing it to drive off immediately afterwards.

Edward himself was pale and he had black, slicked back hair. He was thin, but with an athletic build. He wore a green military jacket with synthetic black sleeves, the jacket was unzipped, revealing a black shirt with a playing card on it, dark blue jeans and black converses. He also had two necklaces, one was an aluminum necklace with a whistle attached to it and the other was a Shamrock necklace.

Edward took a good look at the others, some gave him friendly smiles, others gave him a nonchalant look or a competitive glare, or they paid no attention to him.

"How you doin' Eddie?" Chris said, patting Edward's back.

"Fine." Edward responded, not taking his eyes off of the others.

"Well, that's everyone! Now let's-" Chris began before an unknown voice interrupted him.

"Hey, can we get out now?"

The voice came from Kazuki's bag, causing him to worry. Nanette look absolutely shocked.

"That voice... it couldn't be..." She said.

Nanette opened the bag, revealing two girls. One was African American and the other was Caucasian.

"January?! Karlene?! What are you two doing here?!" Nanette exclaimed.

January was the African American girl, she wore a purple blouse and navy blue designer jeans with royal purple shoes, her hair and eyes were chocolate brown. Her hair was put up in a bun that she was currently fixing from the time she spent in the bag.

"We couldn't bear to see you on Total Drama without us, it looked like fun!" January admitted.

"And Daddy wouldn't let me use his camera to make an audition, so we asked Kazuki to help us get in." Karlene added.

Karlene wore a green blouse with khaki pants that reached her ankles. She had emerald designer shoes and her hair was light brown and curled into neat waves.

"You could have spoken to me about this first!" Nanette replied. "My dad could have helped you. Besides what would... Chris... think..."

Her words trailed off, she and everyone turned to Chris, who was absolutely stunned. It took a few moments for him to regain his composure. Chris sighed before announcing what he would do.

"Alright. We'll just continue as normal. Chef and I will call the network and we'll see what happens from there. For now though, let's head inside the manor, I'll show you around."

The twenty-four teens followed Chris inside the mansion, the sky was already turning orange because of the setting sun.

* * *

From the basement of the manor, Chef and an intern went to check out the basement. They couldn't take too many steps before they saw what looked like a white face staring back at them. As soon as they saw it however, the the face immediately vanished into the darkness. Chef was about to follow him when he was stopped by his walkie-talkie going off.

"Chef, I need you in the office, we have a bit of a problem."

* * *

 **Again, I'd like to apologize for how late this chapter was to come out. But I'd like to know what you all think.**

 **Also, should January and Karlene be allowed to stay and compete on the show? Or would you rather not have them be there?**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	2. Make Yourselves At Home

**And we're back! Don't worry, I haven't forgotten about this story and I will update it whenever I can. But for now, enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

The teens followed Chris inside of the manor, the foyer was moderately large. A large organ was between two sets of stairs leading to the second floor. However, what caught everyone's attention the most were two large portraits hung on the wall above the organ, they were of a man and woman, the names of the portraits were "HIM" and "HER" written in all capital letters and looked like they had been scratched into the nameplates.

"HIM" was of a man who wore a classic suit from the 1900's, he had brown hair, light green eyes, and a confident smile.

"HER" was of a young woman from around the same time period. Her hair was also brown, her eyes were sky blue, she looked ominously beautiful...

Chef entered the room, immediately seeing a problem.

"I thought we were supposed to have twenty-two kids this season?"

"We were." Chris answered, referring to January and Karlene. "I need you to call the network while I show them around."

Chef nodded his head and went into one of the rooms that Chris and Chef were using as their office. An intern brought out a board with the map of the manor. The map showed the interior of the manor and the surrounding areas connected to the manor.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to Rosewood Manor. This manor has five floors, not including two basement floors and an attic. Follow me to our next destination." Chris explained. The teens followed Chris, except for Shawn, who seemed to notice something change in the paintings.

From the corner of his eye, both paintings now had a pitch black background as opposed to the normal light brown. The eyes of both paintings were pitch black and their skin went pale white. "HIM" now had a disturbingly wide smile showing his teeth. "HER" had a widened smile as well, though she seemed to have a slash going from her left eye to her now wide smile, though she didn't show any teeth, her hair was now black and wild.

Karlene and Andi noticed Shawn's trance and snapped him back to reality.

"Hey, don't get lost now!" Andi said.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to get lost on the first day!" Karlene added.

The three of them went to go catch up with the others.

* * *

Chris brought everyone over to a train station that was shockingly part of the building!

"This is the manor's official train station, part of this nation's very first railroad system! But since trains have advanced a lot since those times, this subway now uses electric trains." Chris explained.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Edward asked.

"I was getting to that. This is where this season's eliminations will take place, you'll cast your votes inside of the ticket booth, if you're safe then you'll receive a marshmallow. But if you end up with the highest amount of votes, you'll be eliminated and will receive the train ticket to Train of Shame." Chris finished.

"So what are you gonna do about the teams, Chris? Or are you gonna do what you did last season and have one of us booted off before the teams are chosen?" Jason asked.

"I'll let you know once the tour is finished, now follow me." Chris answered.

* * *

Chris first brought the group into the library, which was lined with books and almost every wall of the massive room, the library itself was full of books of differing genres, categories, editions, dates, and there even appeared to be comic books and Japanese manga!

"Welcome to a bookworm's dream come true. This library is massive and full of books from around the world in several languages. We'll be visiting this room a few times throughout the game, but during any free time, you're welcome to stay here and get a good book to read." Chris explained.

The library was the first thing so far that seemed to actually interest Chelsea.

Chris brought everyone over to the halls next, it was here that an important question arose.

"Um, hey Chris, what are we gonna do about the bedrooms?" David asked. "Is there one for each of us or..."

"I was waiting for someone to bring that up. There are indeed enough beds for everyone, however, there aren't enough bedrooms. So each of you will have a roommate unless directly told otherwise. This floor specifically will be for the boys, the floor above us is for the ladies." Chris explained.

"Why do the guys have the lower floor?" Hester asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, why not have them be for both genders?" Cherry added.

"Do you want one of the guys snooping into one of your rooms at night?" Chris asked. Hester glanced at the guys and then back at Chris.

"Good point..." Hester replied.

"But don't worry guys, I'm not an idiot. If anybody goes into the wrong dorms without clearance, they _will_ be punished for it, regardless of gender! Do I make myself clear?" Chris asked, everybody nodded in understanding. "Good, now let's move on."

* * *

The next destination was a garden in the backyard of the manor. The entire backyard was about the size of an acre. One section of the acre was crops that Chef would be using to cook with, another portion was a garden was for flowers which littered the garden with a multitude of colors and differing varieties, there was even a hedge maze that took up a good portion of the garden as well! Strangely though, there seemed to be a path leading from the garden and into the woods...

Nobody seems to notice the path though, they were all in awe at the garden, which now had an orange glow about it thanks to the orange sky brought by the setting sun.

"Woah..." Santiago said, admiring the view.

"Man, look at this place!" Felicity added, taking a deep breath and enjoying both the view ND the fresh air.

"Tres magnifique!" Nanette said in awe.

"I am so drawing this later!" Charlotte noted, trying to get a mental image of the backyard.

Chris blew an airhorn to get everyone's attention.

"You can admire the view later. This is the backyard, as you can see, it's a big place, so any challenges that require extreme physical activity will be done out here. If you ruin any of the crops, you'll have to deal with Chef and everyone else for spoiling their food. Now let's keep moving."

Meanwhile, Chef was calling the network executives about January and Karlene gate crashing.

"Uh-huh... nah, he'll enjoy them being here... hehe, yeah I'll enjoy breaking them... alright, thank you."

* * *

Chris brought the group over to the dining room, which had to tables set up for the two teams. There was also an opening in the wall revealing Chef in the kitchen, he seemed to be beginning to prepare something. Chris approached him and the two whispered to each other.

"So what did they say?" Chris asked.

"They're cool with the two girls staying, more kids for you to mess with and more slop I can make to make em' hurl!" Chef replied.

"Nice!" Chris whispered. He turned back to the contestants. "Good news! January, Karlene, you're welcome to stay."

The two girls squealed with glee and went into a group hug with Nanette, who cheered with them.

"Now this is the mess hall, you'll have all of your meals here, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Now there's another thing that I need to mention, in the past seasons, the confessional cam has usually been in an outhouse. But since the bathrooms in this manor are a bit too big, you'll be using the supply closet on the second floor. It's right between both of the staircases, you can't miss it."

 ***confessionals***

 **Chelsea:** Can we just get to the challenge so I can go home already? I never wanted to be here, my parents just made me send in an application to "get me off the computer because it's unhealthy". The library does seem kind of cool though.

 **Jason:** Nice place! Something isn't right though, this place just looks too perfect.

 **Nanette:** Honestly I'm glad to have my best friends competing but, what would happen if we were to all make it to the merge? I don't want our friendship ending because of this game.

 **Felicity:** I am so pumped to start this game! I saw the season's before this, if ordinary people like Chuck, Owen, Zoey, Sky and Asuka can get far in the game, how far far do you think my sister and I can go?

 **Toshiko:** After last season, my brother Kenji and I immediately sent in an application when we found out there would be a new season. What I didn't anticipate though was Kaz also sending in an application, and smuggling in the girls. He's up to something...

 **January & Karlene:** Karlene: EEEEEE! Chris said we can stay!

January: I know! This is so awesome!

Both: EEEEEEEEEE!

 ***end confessionals***

"Now that we've got everything settled, I think it's for the teams to be decided. During the tour our interns have written all of your names on both silver and bronze pieces of paper. These papers will be selected randomly."

An intern handed Chris a shoe box with several silver and bronze pieces of paper inside of it. Chris picked out twelve of each color.

"Ok, if I call your name, stand at the table to my left."

"Andrew."

"Chelsea."

"Hester."

"Emma."

"Karlene."

"Nanette."

"Clara."

"Kazuki."

"Edward."

"Adrian."

"And Shawn."

The teens all went to their respective tables, some were more hesitant than others to go to the tables since they were separated by either friends or family.

"What?! Why can't Emma and I be on the same team!" Felicity argued.

"And why can't I be with Nanette and Karlene?" January added.

"Hey, it's random selection, I don't decide the teams. Speaking of which, the twelve of you that I called from this moment will be part of, The Bronze Bats!" Chris announced, Chef tossed Kaz and Edward a tablecloth that was bronze in color, they opened it up to reveal a bronze bronze colored silhouette of a bat in a circle.

"As for the other team, you twelve will be known as, The Silver Scorpions!" An intern tossed Kenji and Santiago a silver tablecloth that had a silhouette of a scorpion on it.

"Scorpions?" Kenji asked. "Sweet."

"Like your team name? Good. Now about your dorms. Like I said, you'll be dorming with someone, draw a number and you'll meet your roommate if you have consecutive numbers like one and two. However, if a boy and girl get consecutive numbers, they can't dorm together and will be split up." Chris explained.

"Aww, come on Chris, we may be teens but were not like that!" Cherry giggled, everyone was silent for a moment before Chris spoke up.

"O...kay? Guys, you can go first."

David, Andrew, and Santiago sent to go get the first pick, shoving each other. Edward sighed and drew the first pick, getting number 4. Kazuki went next and got 3.

"Looks like we got our first roomies!" Chris announced. Kaz and Edward gave each other a suspicious look...

Andrew, Adrian, and Shawn got 7, 5, and 1 respectively.

Everyone continued to draw their numbers until everyone was paired up.

"Alright looks like everyone has a roommate, let me just jot this down... Ok, so the pairs are Kaz and Eddie, Shawn and David, Adrian and Josh, Andrew and Kenji, Jason and Santiago, Brian and Ben, Cherry and Emma, Chelsea and Andi, Felicity and January, Hester and Karlene, Nanette and Charlotte, and finally Toshiko and Clara. Any questions, objections, etcetera?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, can I be put on the same team as my best friends?" January asked.

"Nothing important to say? Good! Now last season I had an elimination on the first day, but I've decided to give you all a break since it's your first day. You're free to explore the manor and get settled in, dinner will be ready in about an hour. But don't rest easy, there will be a challenge an elimination starting tomorrow. Until then." Chris explained, the teens then dispersed.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** This might sound mean but... Hester kind of freaks me out. It's not because of her piercings or clothes... Ok maybe just a little but people and things that are goth just seem to unsettle me...

 **Kazuki:** Edward could prove to be an... interesting roommate. He hasn't said much since he arrived, knowing this show and the sort of people that have acted the same way like Drake and Scarlett, I feel like he's up to something.

 **Ben:** I gotta be careful around my roommate, I'm trying to think of a strategy to win and I can't let him mess it up.

 **Cherry:** I can't wait to get to know my new roommate, Emma's super shy so I'm hoping to bring her her out of her shell a bit.

 **Kenji:** I'm kind of relieved that I won't be dorming with Kaz, I fell sorry for Eddie though...

 **Chelsea:** So I get to spend an entire day here before I can get booted off, super... At least I can see the library.

 **Toshiko:** Clara seems nice enough, she should be a nice roommate. But with my brother Kazuki on the show, I can only expect trouble.

 ***end confessionals***

Chris waited until everyone left the dining hall to sign off.

"With everyone now growing accustomed to the manor and getting a roommate, the game can begin. Tomorrow, the two teams will face off in their first challenge, which team will win the first challenge and which one will send someone home? Find out on the next episode of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Hours later in the middle of the night, everyone was fast asleep. However, the organ in the foyer was playing on its own, the melody was somber, low, and depressing. On the third floor, Andi walked out of her room, careful not to wake Chelsea or anyone else up. She was still a bit drowsy as she made her way to the bathroom.

As she went back to her room after doing her business, she noticed that there seemed to be a person standing by the stairs, she couldn't make out the body shape but the person's head was pure white. It looked at her, which scared her almost completely awake. The face of the person was completely white except for its eyes and mouth, which were pitch black. The figures eye sockets lacked pupils and it's mouth was in a wide grin, mirroring the face Shawn saw hours before.

Andi shook her head and rubbed her eyes, thinking it must be her eyes playing tricks on her. She looked back at where the figure was but there was nothing there...

'Hmph, I must be more tired than I thought.' Andi thought to herself as she headed back into her room.

* * *

 **So what do you think of the teams and dorms? And what's up with the manor? You'll have to read on to find the answer to that question. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Key to Your Heart

**I'm sorry for the delay, college and work keeps me busy. But I'm not going to stop this story until the final chapter is complete.**

* * *

Chris was outside the manor, the morning sun was just beginning to rise. Chris himself was wearing a jacket since it was rather cold in the mornings, as the show was taking place in the mountains. It was time for Chris to give the recap.

"Previously on our season premiere of Total Drama Rosewood Manor, our twenty two contestants finally arrived at the manor, some managed to get along with each other pretty quickly, while others might still need a little more time to adjust. But even though the game hasn't officially started yet, the drama has already begun in the former of our two stowaways, January and Karlene, who arrived at the manor uninvited. But after a call to the producers, everything's been sorted out and our two stowaways are now a part of the show! We also took a tour of the manor to get everyone adjusted to where they'll be competing for the next few weeks. Finally, the two teams have been created, this season, it'll be the Bronze Bats against the Silver Scorpions. The first challenge starts today! Who will be the first contestant to take a ride on the Train of Shame and arrive at the Station of Loserdom? Find out on the first of many dramatic elimination ceremonies that you can only see here on Total Drama Rosewood Manor! ... Man its cold out here..."

* * *

The teens were peacefully asleep in their rooms, it was about 6 a.m. and Chris had just finished his recap of the first episode. Most of the teens were still asleep, except for Toshiko who was already getting dressed.

Chris was going into the office where Chef called the network in yesterday, Chef and some interns were already there having their morning coffee. Chris had a sly smile on his face.

"Ah, I love this job." Chris said before turning on the intercom system. The intercom gave off feedback that Toshiko could hear from her room, knowing what was coming, she covered her ears.

"Good morning contestants! Hope you all enjoyed your sleep! Get dressed and head on down to the mess hall for your breakfast, because today, you'll be doing your first challenge!"

The teens either jumped right up from the sheer volume of Chris' voice, or groggily woke up, trying to remember what was going on. Clara was shocked and slightly disturbed that Toshiko was already dressed and ready to go.

"How did you...? Are... are you a wizard?!"

"Hehehe, no, I just wake up early. We should probably head down for breakfast." Toshiko answered.

* * *

All of the teens were sitting at their respective team's tables for breakfast, the way the teams were arranged of the teams still upset the twins and best friends.

"So how did you all sleep?" Kenji asked his team.

"Like a baby!" Clara answered.

"The beds here are actually really comfy!" Felicity added. Andi noticed January crying as she ate her breakfast, more of her teammates noticed this as well.

"Hey, are you really that bummed out about not being on the same team as your friends?" Andi asked.

"Has she been crying all night?" Santiago asked Felicity, as she was January's roommate.

"I'm not crying because of them, I'm crying because this food is disgusting!" January sniffled. Johnny took a bite out his food, trying to get the exact taste of it.

"It tastes like... oatmeal mixed with asphalt." He said. "Hey Chef! What did you put in here?"

"Asphalt! Put some muscle on those bones. Some of y'all really need it." Chef replied. The teens either threw up, pushed their food away, or fainted out of pure shock. Eventually it descended into chaos with some of the teens having panic attacks and others trying to calm them down.

"We've only been here for a day and already things are going to hell." Hester said, sighing and rubbing her head with her index and middle fingers.

Chris entered the room and was about to announce the challenge but with everything going on, he didn't really know how to react. He then took out a megaphone and then cleared his throat.

"HEY!" Chris shouted, getting everyone to be quiet.

"Two things. First, if there's going to be chaos for any reason, I have to be the cause. Second, it's time for the first challenge of the season. And you better bring your A-game, because if you don't, you'll be sending one of your teammates home."

"Well what are you waiting for?!" David called out. "Bring it!"

"Glad to see you're excited. The challenge is simple, since you all seem like a simple bunch. We've hidden seven keys around the manor and in the backyard. Whichever team finds the most keys wins the challenge." Chris explained.

"Alright then, let's do this!" Santiago announced, he and David were about to dash out of the dining room.

"Wait a sec, guys." Chris said. Ben and Shawn held the two back.

"I'm not sure if I mentioned this yesterday. But there is another thing you need to be mindful about." Chris began.

"Is there another part of the mansion you haven't shown us?" Nanette asked.

"It's probably a secret floor where you and Chef keep all of your luxurious stuff, am I right?" Andrew added.

"Well yes and no. Yes because I haven't shown you the basement floors. But that wasn't what I was getting to. This season, we've brought back the McLean Invincibility Statue, and the Chef Hatchet Elimination Statue. If you find them, you're free to use them at any Elimination Ceremony. For those of you who don't know how they work, let me explain; This wooden statuette based off of yours truly, grants whoever uses it at any ceremony immediate invincibility, making any votes against them null and void. As for the one based off of Chef, it can be used to automatically have someone eliminated, no marshmallows, no ticket, you're put on the train and sent off. Any questions?" Chris explained, two interns showed everyone pictures of the two statues for reference.

"Yes, um, why are they called Statues even though their clearly just wooden carvings of your heads?" Karlene asked.

"Who's idea was it to have those things in the first place?" Hester added.

"Any _important_ questions?" Chris asked, clearly annoyed with the ones he got.

"What's the basement like? And why didn't you show it to us yesterday?" Emma asked.

"I honestly forgot to show you the basement." Chris answered. "Slipped my mind. But it doesn't really matter, remember the door Chef came out of when you first got here? The one that was to your right? That leads to the basement, which is just a singular hallway with doors on both sides that are completely empty or locked. At the end of the hallway is a set of stairs that goes further down into the boiler room, which is just one room with the boiler and light system. That's about it... Also, there are no keys down there, in case you were wondering."

"But you did tell us about the basement though..." Brian told him.

"I did?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, you told us about the two basement floors, but you never showed us what they look like." Clara added.

"But since you described what they looked 'I guess that counts for something'!" Brian joked, making his voice sound cartoonist and over the top for the last part of his statment, which got a few laughs out of the others

"Oh... anyway you have a challenge to do people! Move, move, move!" Chris explained. The teens scattered out of the room to look for the keys, except for Edward.

"And will you be participating, Ed?" Chris asked.

"One of the keys is here isn't it?" Edward asked calmly.

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Chris responded, leaving the room. Edward turned to see Chef also had left, leaving him alone. Edward then headed into the kitchen to search for the key there.

 ***confessionals***

 **Edward:** He's going easy on us. I don't blame him, there's not much you can do for challenges in this old place.

 **Jason:** If you're wondering how I knew the taste of asphalt, I was out on my bike some time before coming here, I hit a pothole and landed face first onto the road. Just another day in the life of a biker.

 **Ben:** I knew Chris was gonna pull something like that, I need to find those statues!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Emma was searching in the inside of the organ, though though she wasn't having much luck.

"Did you find anything?" Adrian asked her, to which Emma shook her head.

"Do you think there might be a key outside?" Shawn pondered.

"Do you want us to look for them?" Karlene asked, offering to search outside with Nanette.

"If you want to." Clara said, the two girls left to look outside, on their way they passed by January.

"Hey girls!" January greeted, sounding happy to see them but uneasy now that they were on different teams.

"Hey Januray!" Karlene returned the greeting, giving her best friend a hug.

"Listen, now that we're on different teams, we can't really be around each other as much. But let's not let this game get in the way of us being friends, ok?" Nanette proposed.

"Deal!" January replied, the three girls got into a group hug before going their separate ways.

 ***confessionals***

 **Januray:** At least now I'm more at ease with being on the opposite team than my friends but this might be a good thing, I can try making new friends now. I just have to try to avoid getting myself booted off.

 **Charlotte (holding one of the keys):** How did nobody see this? It's literally right beside as as we come into this dumb closet!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Santiago was currently searching outside for the Silver Scorpions, however, with the sheer size of the backyard, it wasn't going to be easy. He looked around to see where he should look first when he noticed a path going off into the woods. It was the same path that nobody noticed when they were getting their tour yesterday.

Santiago took the path, and after walking for about two minutes, he came across a graveyard. The trees in the graveyard were all dead and there was only one singular path to the graveyard. At the end of the path was a pile of dirt with a sign right behind it. The sign had the word 'HER' written on it in black paint.

Santiago took a deep breath before digging his way through the dirt, he tried feeling around for the key but he flinched and retracted his hand when he felt something that felt like a human skull. It was cold, and he could feel a worm wriggling around in the dirt. Santiago immediately turned tail and ran from the graveyard.

 ***confessionals***

 **Santiago:** I thought the key would be down there! Why the hell is there even a cemetery around here in the first place?!

 **Chris:** In all honesty I did not know there was a cemetery here. As for Santiago, a little mental trauma never hurt! I might think about using that place for a challenge though...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Meanwhile, Toshiko, Charlotte, and Josh were looking for the keys on the third floor of the manor, the two had just finished searching in all of the bedrooms and there was no key to be found.

"So where do you think it is?" Josh asked.

"Knowing Chris he would probably but it in a dangerous or disgusting location." Toshiko answered. An idea then snapped into their minds.

"The bathrooms!" They said in unison.

"Toshiko, did you find anything?"

The two turned to see Kenji, Cherry, and Felicity.

"Not yet but we think there might be keys in the bathrooms."

"OK then, Toshiko and I will look in the bathroom up here. Boys, you look downstairs." Felicity stated.

"And try not to do anything too naughty, 'kay." Cherry added with a wink.

"We won't, but knowing you, it might get frisky in the girls room." Kenji joked.

The girls entered the bathroom, the three immediately scattered around the room to check every sink, toilet paper roll, and the towel rack.

'Please don't be in the toilets. Please don't be in the toilets!' Cherlotte silently begged as she looked by the toilet paper holders.

Eventually when their search failed they turned to the only things they didn't check: the toilets.

"Ok girls... let's get this over with." Toshiko sighed as the girls went to check the toilets. Thankfully they didn't have to look very long as Cherry found the key rather quickly.

"I got it!" She called out. Toshiko immediately went over to the sink and began scrubbing her hands and forearms.

"I take it you're a germaphobe?" Felicity asked.

"Not really, but I don't know if any of these toilets were recently used..." Toshiko answered. The other girls joined her in washing up.

Kenji and Josh had just entered the boys room, they had searched every, including the toilets and found nothing.

"I hope I never have to dig in a toilet ever again!" Kenji groaned.

"Same here. Hey, I'm heading back to my room to put some disinfectant on my hands, just in case." Josh said.

"No prob, I'll report back to the girls, and is it OK if I get some too?" Kenji responded.

"Sure."

Josh returned to his and Adrian's room and saw something reflect light out of the window and onto his face. He followed the light and found a key.

 ***confessional***

 **Josh:** So Chris had the interns hide the keys while he was telling us the challenge? Or did he set these up beforehand?

 ***end confessional***

* * *

In the library, Chelsea was skimming over some of the books in the library, not really caring for the challenge. Kazuki and Hester entered and saw her rummaging through the books.

"Do you need some help?" Kaz asked.

"Nope." Chelsea replied monotonously.

"You can't look for the key in this entire room by yourself." Hester noted. Chelsea simply shrugged.

"Forget it, she doesn't want any help. If we lose this you're going home!" Kaz hissed. Chelsea turned her back to them, silently thanking Kaz for what he said.

"Do you think Chris may have put one on the roof?" Hester pondered.

"It's not unlike him, can you look up there? I'm going to look for Edward, I haven't seen him since the challenge started." Kaz said. The two took one last look at Chelsea before leaving the room.

"Muda muda..." Kaz hissed. ["Useless useless..."]

* * *

Karlene and Nanette were searching through the flower patches for the key, both trying not to damage any of the plants.

"These Chrysanthemums are so beautiful! They go so well with my hair, don't you think?" Karlene asked.

"Karlene! We need to be looking for the key!" Nanette reminded her, sounding concerned. "But oh my gosh they so do go with your hair!"

"Wait, do you mean this key? I found it here about five minutes ago, I just wanted to find the best flowers!" Karlene said innocently, Nanette was shocked but she smiled at her friend enjoying herself.

"Well we should head inside, we still have a challenge to do."

"Oh, right, sorry!" Karlene said, heading inside with Nanette. The two passed by Kaz who was about to enter the kitchen when Edward stepped out of it, he was holding a key.

"Well what do you know, my roommate goes and gives us a point. You know, you just might be the person I've been hoping to find here..." Kaz said, Edward raided an eyebrow in intrigue.

* * *

Hester opened the door to the roof and saw the key tied to the flagpole that housed the U.S. flag on it, she cut the string that held the key and was about to leave when Andi, David and Jason arrived on the roof as well.

"Looks like you have something we want!" David said glaring at Hester who simply had an annoyed look on her face.

"Look Hester, I'm sure we can settle this calmly." Andi said, not wanting any confrontations.

"Says you! I came to win!" David shouted as he ran at Hester. David pushed Hester as he reached for the key but Hester pushed him down in retaliation, then stepping on his chest to keep him down just in case.

Hester looked at Andi and Jason, the former backed off while the latter gave Hester an impressed smile.

"I'll be going now." Hester said as she went back downstairs.

"She's pretty cool." Jason said.

David got up and brushed himself off.

"What's wrong with you?! You could have helped me! It's three against one!" He shouted.

"What's wrong with us? I'm not the one who tried to fight a girl." Jason responded, frustrated with his teammate.

"And I was trying to settle this calmly!" Andi added.

"Whatever! If we lose, I'll tell the team it's your fault!" David snapped as he went downstairs, Andi and Jason followed him.

* * *

Everyone except Chelsea regrouped in the foyer, the score was currently tied at three keys each.

"So the score is even." Chris said via intercom.

"We looked everywhere!" Andrew responded.

"Oh no you haven't, think. What's the on room you all haven't checked yet?"

The twenty three teens thought before a few of the teens suddenly realized where the last key was.

"So it _is_ in the library!" David announced. The group rushed over to the library as fast as they could.

* * *

Chelsea was still skimming through some books when she found herself in the section for Manga, she eventually saw a back cover for one of the books jutting out of the shelf a bit and out of curiosity, she looked at it.

It was a Manga series called 'Jojo's Bizarre Adventure' and it featured two men on the cover, one of them was holding what appeared to be a mask made out of stone. Chelsea found a small gap in between some of the pages and opened it to see the last key!

The teens entered the library once Chelsea had already found the key.

"And that's game! Thanks to Chelsea, the Bronze Bats win the first challenge, which means the Silver Scorpions will be sending someone home tonight." Chris announced.

"Way to go Chel!" Karlene cheered. She and a few of the oothers went to go congratulate Chelsea, who was feeling like she was about to scream in frustration.

'Hmph, maybe I was wrong about her. But it's only been day one...' Kaz thought to himself.

* * *

Later that evening, Karlene and Nanette had brought January out to the flower patch, where the three had decided to tend to the flowers.

"Wow, you girls were right! These flowers look gorgeous!" January squealed.

"I know, right!" Karlene added. Nanette seemed to notice something was out of place.

"Hey look! One of the roses is missing!" She announced. The roses were all grown in neat rows, ranging in color from red to yellow to white. Sure enough, one of the red roses was missing.

"Hmm, maybe someone has a crush one someone else and took a rose as a gift for them?" January pondered.

"Oh I hope one of the boys picked it for me! Especially Edward, he's just so mysterious, I find it charming!" Karlene said in excitement.

"Attention Scorpions, it's time for someone to take a ride!" Chris announced. Nanette and Karlene gave January a concerned look and wished her luck as she went to the subway station for the ceremony.

* * *

The Silver Scorpions took their seats for the ceremony, some more nervous than others.

"Welcome Scorpions to the first elimination ceremony of the season. I said this yesterday, but I'll say it again, you'll make your votes and if you receive the highest amount, you'll get this." Chris said, holding up a red train ticket.

"This ticket means you've been voted off, if you're safe, you'll get a marshmallow. Now one at a time, you can make your votes."

 ***ticket booth confessional***

 **January:** Andromita, told me what you did!

 **Kenji:** You messed up dude...

 **Andi:** You shouldn't have tried to fight a girl!

 **David:** I'm playing for keeps, alright?!

 **Santiago:** That freaking graveyard man...

 ***end confessionals***

"Alright, I've tallied the votes, if I call your name, you're safe. For now." Chris said.

"Kenji."

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"Cherry."

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"Felicity."

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"Santiago."

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"Ben."

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"January."

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"Jason."

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"Toshiko."

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"Josh."

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"And Charlotte. Andi, David, you two got the most votes but only one of you is safe, and that person is..."

.

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"Andi!" Chris tossed Andi her marshmallow and handed David the ticket. The Train of Shame promptly pulled up to the station.

"All aboard!" Chris said. David scowled at Chris and then at his team. He flipped them the bird as he got on the train, which began to leave the station. Once it was gone, Chris began to sign off.

"And that settles the elimination. Twenty three contestants remain, what will happen next time on the next dramatic episode of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

 **I hope you all liked this chapter and I'll try my absolute hardest to get the next one out faster.**


	4. Descent Into The Unknown

**Again I must apologize for how long its taken me to update this story. But I hope you'll stick around and enjoy reading this chapter and the rest of this story. :)**

* * *

Chris was in the camera room of the manor with Chef, who was reading the manga that Chelsea found the key in yesterday.

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood manor, our first challenge began, and with it came the beginning of what's sure to be one of the most dramatic seasons yet! The challenge itself, find the keys that were scattered around the manor. It was neck and neck for the entire time, until Chelsea found the last key and won the challenge for her team in a book that was supposed to belong to this place's original owner." Chris explained, glaring at Chef when he mentioned the book. Chef simply glanced at him and shrugged.

"Anyway, David wound up being the first one to take a ride on the Train of Shame, but is he really out of the game? And who will be the next person to be eliminated? Find out right now on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

The day after David's elimination was rather uneventful, Chris didn't have the teams do a challenge and the teens spent the day just hanging out and getting to know each other. Everyone was currently in the dining room having dinner. The sun was beginning to set on the manor, the orange evening sky cascades through the windows of the manor. The food that everyone was eating was much more normal when compared to the asphalt gruel they all had yesterday.

"Hey Chel, you alright?" Clara asked. Chelsea wasn't eating much and she had a frustrated look on her face. She was still annoyed about not losing yesterday.

"Its nothing, I'm just not too hungry." Chelsea replied.

Clara was going to respond but Chris entered the dining room.

"Good evening teams. Hope you're all ready for tonight's challenge!" Chris began. "But before I do, now that a camper has been eliminated, I can explain a new part of the game. Before, if a camper was eliminated, they could never come back." Chris began.

"What about Izzy and Eva?" Kaz interrupted.

"And Courtney." Hester added.

"And Owen."

"And Dakota."

"Heck even last season, Kevin and Sarah came back." Karlene noted

"Alright enough, most of them couldnt come back. But this season, being voted off doesnt mean youre gone for good. After taking the Train of Shame and heading to the Station of Loserdom you have the possibility of finding a Golden train ticket. Finding it will allow one person to go back into the game. But theres a bit of a catch, if you find it then you can either use it on yourself or use it on slmeone else to bring them back!" Chris explained.

"So if David finds it he can just come right back?" Shawn asked.

"Thats right, and there are a total of three tickets at the station so only three of you can come back after elimination. Now to the challenge; you'll need these."

Chris handed the teams two sticky notes that had been written on.

"These are the first clues to the challenge. You'll have to follow the instructions on the note and solve the riddle. But to make things more difficult for you and more hilarious for me, Chef and I have set up traps all around the manor that can separate you from your team. The first team who solves the riddle wins the challenge. Your challenge begins now ans ill he watching your progress from my office. Have fun!" Chris finished, leaving the room.

"So what does it say?" Charlotte asked.

"'Behind the face of a man of history lies your next clue'." Josh read, he and the rest of the Scorpions tried to think of what the clue meant before Toshiko figured it out.

"Face of a man from history... if I'm correct then it should be in a painting or picture."

"We should check the two paintings in the foyer! There are the two big ones there, remember?" Clara noted

Meanwhile, Nanette read her team's clue for the Bats.

"'Follow the somber melody to its source. Then embrace your inner surgeon to find the next clue'."

"Somber melody?" Karlene asked in confusion.

"It's an instrument." Adrian said.

"There's an organ in the foyer." Edward said monotonously.

"Then lets go!" Shawn exclaimed. Both teams hurried over to where they thought the next clue would be.

 ***confessional***

 **Chelsea:** As much as I want to go home I can't really ditch mt team right now. I don't want to deal with them on my case for not caring about the game.

 **Josh:** After losing yesterday my team and I will have to work double time if we want to win.

 **Emma:** I hope my sister sill be okay, if my team wins again then she might get voted off...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The two teams entered the foyer, which now had a new carpet that connected the door that the teens just came out of and the door opposite of it, and the stairs, the Bats turned their attention to the organ piano while the Scorpions went up the stairs to check the paintings above. Once the Scorpions climbed the stairs, the bottom five steps of both stairwells retracted into the walls and revealed a hidden passageway. This all happened completely silently and out of the view of everyone.

The Scorpions looked all around the paintings but they couldnt find anything either on or in the corners of the paintings' frames.

"We checked all around both paintings but theres nothing." Kenji groaned. Toshiko looked at the painting of the man and placed a hand on the glass protecting the image. She traced her hand around the parts of the painting she could reach and stopped suddenly.

Toshiko then lifted the painting slightly and reached underneath it to pull out another sticky note, leabing the rest of her team except for her brother shocked.

"How did you do that?!" Cherry asked.

"I figured that that if the clue wasn't in or on the frame of the paintings, it would be underneath it." Toshiko explained.

"And the hand thing?" Felicity added.

"If the clue was underneath the painting then I would be able to feel around to find the exact spot where the painting would shift slightly in position. I'm an observant person and I notice the little things." Toshiko further explained.

 ***confessionals***

 **Charlotte:** Ok Toshiko is kind of creeping me out but I guess as long as she isn't hurting anyone then her weird skills could help us win.

 **Ben:** Ok, gotta watch out for that girl, she might find out what I'm planning.

 **Kenji:** Yeah, my sister has a few odd skills but trust me, she means well.

 **Josh:** Ok that was weird... but arent we all?

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

At the same time, the Bats were inspecting the piano, trying to figure out where the clue was. Andrew was checking underneath the instrument, Karlene was checking underneath and around the seat. The others were pondering where the clue could be.

"Its not on the chair." Karlene informed them.

"Or in the piano." Andrew added.

An intruiged look grew on Adrian's face. He sat down and began to press on the several keys of the organ. He eventually pressed a key that was more faint when compared to the with others. Adrian pressed the key again, though with a bit more force. A sticky note flew out of the organ's pipes and was promptly caught by Clara.

Once both teams had their clues and were about to read them, the carpet quickly yanked everyone underneath it and rolled up to trap them. On the floor above where the Scorpions were, the floor beneath a few of them suddenly retracted causing Cherry, Toshiko, and Kenji to fall.

Shawn, Clara, and Nanette had been caught up in the carpets, which were quickly being sucked into the now open staircases. Nanette was the first to be taken by the stairs with Shawn close behind, though he caught the railings and held onto it with his life.

"HELP! THE STAIRCASE IS EATING ME!" He shouted. Kazuki and Adrian went to go help him and were successful. Nanette tried to hold onto something, she ended up grabbing onto what was closest to her at the moment, which was Andrew, causing the boy to fall.

"What are you doing?!" Andrew shrieked.

"Please don't let me go!" Nanette pleaded. The others went to go help Nanette, who was clinging to Andrew's leg.

Growing frustrated with Nanette, Andrew shook Nanette off of his leg and let her get sucked into the stairs, which then closed and the stairs themselves turned back into their original shape.

"Why in the world would you do tha?!" Karlene shouted, half crying.

"Hey, she suddenly grabbed my leg and I panicked ok?!" Andrew replied. "What does the clue say?"

The Scorpions, hearing everything, reminded themselves of their own clue.

"'Look to the sky and seek out the highest point of the manor'. We need to head to the roof." Santiago read for her team as they headed to the upper floors. Adrian read his team's clue.

"'Head to where those who meet their end take their ride to their last destination'."

The Bats pondered of where the next clue would be before Emma figured it out.

"I got it!" She exclaimed. "'Meet their end' as in the end of the game, and 'take their ride to their last destination' as in a train ride to where the Losers go!"

The Bats then hurried off to the manor's train station.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** How could he just let Nanette go like that?! Nanette isnt going to like this, she's going to get back at him...

 **Hester:** Hmph, what Andrew did kind of reminds me of what David did yesterday.

 **Andrew:** Hey, she shouldn't have clung on to me like that, if she wanted help she could have just called for it.

 **Andi:** This challenge just started and I'm already getting stressed. There's traps everywhere, and with what just happened, who knows where they are!

 **Santiago:** Man, this challenge is already insane!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The six contestants that were caught in the traps ended up in the kitchen closet. They were unharmed but slightly shaken up.

"Is everyone ok?" Shawn asked.

"Yeah."

"I'm ok."

Clara and Cherry responded. Toshiko and Kenji noticed Nanette trying to force open the dlor to the room they were in.

"Nanette, whats wrong?!" Kenji asked.

"Andrew let me get caught in that trap, he didnt even try to help. I swear ill get him back for that!" Nanette hissed.

"Looks like we have our first victims." Chris announced through an intercom in the room.

"Chris, where are we?!" Toshiko asked in an irate tone.

"Calm down, you're in the kitchen closet and youve been taken out of the challenge. The door will remain locked until the end of the challenge." Chris explained.

 ***confessionals***

 **Toshiko:** I have no reason to worry, I have full faith in my team.

 **Kenji:** Ok, so I got trapped in an empty room. No big deal. Its not like the room is slowly gpinf to close in on us, right? Being the guy I am, I knew the hest thing to do was remain calm.

 **Nanette:** It's one thing to not help, but to push me off and let me get caught?!

 **Shawn:** So it's all up to the others then, no biggie, at least now we can relax at least for now.

 ***end confessionals***

Kenji was slowly beginning to panic in the room, he was breathing heavily and his left eye was twitching. Clara grabbed Kenji's hands and looked at him right in the eyes.

"Kenji, its ok, just close your eyes, take deep breaths and imagine wide open spaces." Clara said in a soft tone.

"Wide open spaces. Wide open spaces." Kenji repeated as he followed Clara's instructions. Toshiko looked intruiged at how Clara helped her brother.

 ***confessional***

 **Clara:** What kind of teammate would I be if I just let Kenji panic like that? Besides hes kind of sweet.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

The two teams headed over to where their next clue resided, the Scorpions were heading up the stairs to the roof, the base of the stairs opened up, along with the floors of the floors below it which created a path right to the room the eliminated contestants were.

"So its on the roof?" January asked.

"Yup, not too much longer now, were almost there." Jason answered. The stairs suddenly retracted again, this time turning into a sort of slide that caused January, Charlotte and Josh to fall. Everyone else managed to grab onto either the railing or the leg of one of their teammates. Once the three had fallen to the lower floors the stairs went back to normal.

"Damn it McClean, are you trying to give us heart attack!" Santiago cursed.

* * *

The Bats were in the hallway that lead to the train station. There didn't seem to be any traps in the hallway and they arrived at the station without any issue.

"Ok, now we just have to find the clue." Adrian said.

"Lets just get this over with." Andrew groaned, sitting in one of the chairs, Chelsea sat in another chair. "I've got a date with my bed and I'd rather not miss it." The two were suddenly taken by a trap door that appeared from underneath the chairs.

"Figures." Kaz said, laughing a little bit.

"I got it!" Emma called out, finding the clue by the ticket booth.

"Well what does it say?" Karlene asked.

"'Head to the land of knowledge and learning, your reward is the piece which holds the thoughts of the owner'. The land of knowledge... The library!" Emma read. The group ran back to the hallway but stopped when they saw the hall now had pitfall traps in several places, leaving the team to jump to the other end of the hallway.

"Oh of course!" Kaz said, annoyed with what he had to do.

* * *

The Scorpions arrived at the roof and faintly saw the clue on top of the flagpole of the manor.

"I got it!" Santiago said, he tried climbing the flagpole but he quickly slipped off. Felicity noticed something odd about the flagpole.

"Wait, instead of trying to climb it, can you try bending the flagpole? Or at least try to push it towards us?" Felicity asked.

"Um, sure?" Santiago replied, not sure why Felicity asked this of him. He grabbed the pole and pulled it downward as much as he could. Jason and Ben helped to pull the pole down enough to where Andi could reach it.

"Ok, the clue says 'Head to the land of knowledge and learning, your reward is the piece which holds the thoughts of the owner'. It sounds like we need to head to the library." Andi read.

"Well come on then! Let's go!" Felicity announced. The Scorpions then raced to the library as fast as they could.

* * *

The Bats were still in the pitfall hallway. Everyone was having a bit of difficulty making the jumps, especially Karlene and Emma who were beginning to fall behind.

"Pick up the pace back there!" Kaz called to them.

"Hey, this isnt exactly easy you know!" Karlene replied. The two girls jumped to another platform but sidnt make land correctly, leaving Karlene grabbing on to the ledge of the platform and Emma holding onto Karlene.

"Dont let go!" Emma pleaded.

"Its too late!" Karlene replied, unable to hold on for very long due to the extra weight Emma put on her. The two fell into the darkness below and ended up with the other teens that were taken out of the challenge.

"Girls! Youre ok!" Karlene squealed, giving her best friends a hug.

"So where is everyone headed now?" Cherry asked.

"Our team is going to the library but I don't know about the Scorpions." Emma replied.

"Our team was headed to the roof but I'm not sure where they're headed to now." Charlotte added.

"Lets just hope we get out of here fast." Kenji said.

* * *

Both teams entered the library and met up with each other. Kazuki's eyebrow twitched when he noticed that his siblings weren't with the rest if the Scorpions. The teams quickly scattered to find their target.

The library was soon in a frenzy over what the teams needed to look for. The teens looked behind, on top of, ans inside nearly every book they could find.

Emma looked behind one of the bookcases and saw a key. Believing the key to be what they were looking for, she reached for it and managed to grab it. However, once she held it in her hand everything seemes to change. The room was now empty and pure white, the bookcases were now black and completely empty. The windows showed nothing but a pitch black darkness. Until Emma looked closely at it, she slowly walked over to it and saw a white face with pitch black eyes and a wide open grin.

When Emma saw it she seemed to hear it laugh. Her skin became cold and she could feel it crawling. She then felt a hand on her shoulder that snapped her out of her daze.

"Emma, are you ok?" It was Hester. "What are you doing just standing around like this?"

"Uh..." Emma tried to say, she looked back at the window and saw the normal night sky, everything else was back to normal as well. "I thought whatever we were looking for was by the window."

Hester gave her a suspicious look before shrugging off whatever suspicions she had.

"Well if you find it, let us know." Hester said as she left Emma alone. Emma reached into her pocket and found the strange key, nothing happened to Emma this time when she touched it.

 ***confessional***

 **Emma:** What just happened?!

 ***end confessional***

Andi looked at one of the bookcases while thinking about the clue.

'Your reward is the piece which holds the thoughts of the owner...' She pondered. She noticed an old notebook with a picture of a rose etched into its spine. Out of curiosity, she took the book out and looked at the cover.

The book's cover was completely blank except for a name on it, Anthony Bartholomew Rosewood.

"And the game is over! Thanks to Andi, the Silver Scorpions win!" Chris announced via intercom.

* * *

Once the game had ended, the door keeping the eliminated contestants in the locked room opened allowing them to exit.

"Freedom!" Kenji called out as he bolted out of the room.

Some of the Bats groaned as they now had to send someone home. January gave her friends a concerned look.

* * *

The Bronze Bats had taken their places at the Elimination Ceremony. Chris seemed excited to semd someone home.

"Welcome to your first elimination ceremony, I shouldnt have to explain how this works but since its been a while ill say it again. If you get the most votes, you've been voted off and you get to join David in his search for the Golden Ticket. Now go ahead and make your votes." Chris said with his usual grin.

 ***confessionals***

 **Nanette:** I said that I would get him back for earlier...

 **Edward:** As much as I don't care for the rest of this team, if rather not risk elimination again and to do that we need to vote off the weakest link.

 ***end confessionals***

"The votes have been tallied, if I call yoir name then youre safe, for now. Tje first marshmallow of the night goes to... Hester."

.

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"Emma."

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"Karlene."

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"Clara."

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"Kazuki."

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"Edward."

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"Shawn."

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"Adrian."

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"And Chelsea." Chelsea caught her marshmallow but was seething with frustration.

 ***confessional***

 **Chelsea:** You have got to be KIDDING!

 ***end confessional***

"Nanette and Andrew, you two were the only ones to receive any votes tonight but only one of you will be leaving. The final marshmallow goes to..."

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"Nanette."

"What! Oh come on!" Andrew said in anger.

"I told you I'd get back at you." Nanette said calmly, she smirked as Andrew went on the train and left.

"Well with all that being said, Bats, youre free to go. With Andrew being the second one voted off, the teams are now even once again. Who will win the next challenge, will anyone find any of the elimination statues? And will David and Andrew find a way back into the game? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Kazuki and Edward went back to their room, they were both silent until Kaz broke the silence.

"Edward, yesterday I said you might be the person I was looking for. Do you know what I meant by that?"

"No, enlighten me." Edward replied in a dark tone.

"In a game like this you need allies, someone that can watch your back. I suggest we form an alliance." Kaz said, offering a handshake.

'If we make an alliance then I can doublecross him when the opportunity arises.' Edward thought to himself. "Deal." He said, shaking Kaz's hand. Kaz himself hid a hand behind his back and crossed his fingers: he was lying.

* * *

Meanwhile, Clara and Toshiko were heading back to their room and noticed that there was a rose on the dresser that Clara had her clothes in.

"A rose? Perhaps one of the boys has developed a crush on you?" Toshiko pondered.

"You really think so?" Clara wondered which of the boys it could be.

* * *

Andi, was reading the journal that she decided to keep from the library. Chelsea was already fast asleep and Andi herself was beginning to grow tired.

'So this man, Anthony was the one who owns this place, and it was built in 1798.' She thought to herself. She turned the page and saw a picture of a woman that looked very similar to Clara.

'What? Who is this?'

Andi put the picture back into the journal and closed it, she couldn't stay awake for much longer and she knew it.

* * *

At about 3 a.m., Andi suddenly stood up in bed, her eyes looked lifeless, as if she was sleepwalking. She walked over to the wall of her room and pressed her hand on a part of the wall that acted like a button, which caused the wall to open and reveal a small entry way that had a ladder that led into the basement.

Andi suddenly awoke, noticing the hidden path. Andi wanted to ignkre it and go back to bed but something seemed to be calling her downstairs. Out of morbid curiosity, Andi went down the ladder and into the basement.

The basement was just as Chris said, a single hallway with various rooms. She tried the door in front of her and it opened. The room itself had a faint glow of light on it. The room was grey and there was a painting of the same woman in the foyer, it was essentially anither hallway.

Andi walked down the hallway, which was completely empty, at some point the hallway became completely blood red and the ground became soft and moist. Andi hesitated but reluctantly continued. Eventually she found something on the ground and picked it up. She gasped and dropped it when she realized that it was a human heart that was in half. Once she dropped it she heard something laugh behind her.

The way she came from was the only way out, so she slowly turned around. The white face that Emma saw earlier charged at her at an intense speed. Andi had no time to react and everything suddenly went dark for her...

Andi then woke up in her bed, Chelsea was still asleep as well. She looked at the hidden part of the room with the ladder and saw the wall slowly go back into place. Andi was too tired to deal with what happened and decided to go back to sleep.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this chapter. Sorry that it took so long to get it out but now that I'm out for the semester the next chapter will hopefully be out more quickly.**


	5. Vento Aureo

**Happy New Year readers! I know its kind of late to say that but college has started up again which unfortunately means that updates will be affected. I apologize in advance about this but I hope the story is still enjoyable for everyone.**

* * *

Chris stood in the backyard of the manor, it was bright and warm outside with a light breeze flowing.

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, the teams were sent on a bit of a scavenger hunt to find the secret prize: the journal of the original owner of the manor! After having their teams dwindle in size with the traps and tricks around the manor, the Silver Scorpions managed to walk away with the victory, making the teams even in number again. But while there were winners, there were also losers, and there was no bigger loser than Andrew, who was the second to take the ride on the Train of Shame. The game's just getting started, who will be the next to board the train? Find out right now on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Chris had woken up the teams as normal, being met with groans and jeers as per usual with Total Drama contestants, as he had dealt with it for seven seasons prior.

The day itself had been going normally, Chris hadn't called a challenge yet but everyone was alert as they knew Chris would announce a challenge at any moment. The teens themselves had just finished lunch, which was the usual slop, thankfully there was no chaos with this meal, showing tjat the teens were starting to grow accostumed to Chef's cooking, but for now they could enjoy the manor for what it was.

Chelsea was sitting alone in the library, out of curiosity she was reading the manga that Chef himself had just finished reading. As much as she was intruiged by the manga, she was still annoyed at the fact that she was still in the game. Brian soon entered the library and approached Chelsea, he seemed concerned.

"What do you want?" Chelsea asked in an annoyed tone.

"You've just seemed bummed since you got here. I just wanted to know what was wrong." Brian replied.

"Why do you care? We're not even on the same team!"

"True, but don't have to be so... Distant..." Brian said, trying to metaphorically grasp a word that wouldn't anger Chelsea.

"Look, I happen to like being alone and reading. So if you'd please back off..." Chelsea spat, Brian shrugged and left the girl alone.

 ***confessionals***

 **Chelsea:** Harsh? Maybe, but all I want is to go home.

 **Brian:** Hey, game or not, I have to at least try to get people to open up and make some friends, right?

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Clara was sitting on the back steps holding the rose she received yesterday in her hand. She was pondering which of the boys could have put it in her room.

"Hey Clara, what's up?"

Clara looked up to see January in front of her, she had a friendly smile on her face.

"Oh hey, well I found this rose in my room yesterday and I'm just wondering which of the boys sent it." Clara answered.

"Hm... Well if you'd like then I could help you." January replied.

"Thanks, Toshiko already said she'd help me but I could use some extra help."

 ***confessional***

 **Clara:** There's exactly ten boys left, so one of them must have been the one who gave me the rose.

 **January:** Honestly I hope it wasnt Edward, I have to admit I have a bit of a crush on him.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Back inside the manor, Cherry was playing sinple notes on the organ in the foyer. Santiago, Ben, and Kenji walked out of the dining hall and heard Cherry playing.

"I never knew you were good with the organ?" Santiago noted.

"There are a lot of things you don't know I'm good at." Cherry replied, a bit of a flirtatious smirk on her face. Santiago raised an eyebrow and a similar smile grew on his face. From the floor above, Kaz and Edward looked at the group below.

"So tell me why you brought me here." Edward said.

"Look down there." Kaz replied. The two looked down at Ben, who was still with Santiago, Kenji amd Cherry.

"Yeah, its some of the Scorpions, so what?" Ed asked.

"Having an alliance with just the two of us isn't enough to keep us safe. We need someone on the other team who can watch our backs. Of course we'll have to protect them in return." Kaz explained.

"I see. So who do you suggest we include in the alliance?"

"Well Cherry doesn't look like she could keep a secret, Santiago looks like dumb muscle but it would probably end up like Cherry, can't keep a secret. Kenji is my brother and he's too much of a goody-two-shoes to join. That leaves us with Benjamin." Kazuki explained.

Before Edward could reply the intercom system was turned on.

"Afternoon everyone! It's challenge time! Since its such a nice day outside, I thought we'd have our challenge outside of the manor!" Chris announced.

* * *

The teens all met up with Chris outside, Chef was piling junk into two piles behind him.

"Isn't it such a nice day outside. It's days like these where we should do somethinf like... Kite flying or, a relay race. But I'm not that nice or predictable. Instead, Chef and I have decided that you two will be building planes and flying them through the several challenges we have set up for them. Now to make sure everyone gets their fair share of work here, everyone will build the planes and six of you will take turns flying for each part of the challenge."

"And we're gonna build it out of stuff in those piles?" Kenji asked.

"Obviously. You have one hour to build your planes. Be sure to build it so that it can support the weight of a pail of water." Chris replied. "Your challenge begins... Now!"

The two teams immediately went to work on their planes. Chelsea tried her hardest not to help but she didn't want to have to deal with the rest of her team chastising her.

 ***confessionals***

 **Toshiko:** Finding the best parts for our plane proved to be rather difficult. Most things in that like either didn't help or didn't work.

 **Shawn:** It feels like Chris is kind of re-using this challenge from Revenge of The Island. Granted that challenge never really happened since Heather butted in.

 **Emma:** I honestly had a little bit of hope that Chria would let us off easy today. I huess I should have figured it was too good to be true.

 ***end confessionals***

Adrian looked for materials in the pile when he noticed Chelsea lazily sifting through the pile.

"Do you think you could speed it up a little?" Adrian asked.

"Well we need the absolute best parts we can get, don't we! I'm trying to find the best ones." Chelsea lied, Adrian gave her a suspicious look but left her alone.

The Scorpions were trying to make the best out if the parts they had. Toshiko had just finished putting a propeller while Kenji was tying a wire to the plane on one end and a pail of water to the other. As soon as he had finished tying the wire, the wire snapped under the weight of the pail, breaking the propellers along with it.

* * *

"Time's up!" Chris announced. "Let's see what you've built." Chris looked at the two planes and immediately began to laugh. The two planes were at least partially painted to match their team color. There was a pail of water that was crudely tied to both planes as well.

"Ahahaha! Oh geez you guys stink at building!" Chris laughed. Everyone's attention was shifted over to Chef, who then began to load each plane with miniguns that had frozen peas as ammunition.

"Um... Why is Chef putting guns on our planes?" Felicity asked.

"Well now that the planes are built I can explain the whole challenge. Like I said earlier, you'll be using these planes in a variety of aerial challenges, giving control of your plane to one of your teammates after completing your leg of the challenge. First, you'll fly through an obstacle course designed by yours truly. Its pretty standard, a few loops and spins through rings of fire, aerial stunts, basic stuff. Next, you'll use the pails of water on Chef's vegetable patch, be careful and sprinkle the water evenly." Chris began to explain.

"If you screw up, you don't eat!" Chef warned.

"After that, you'll go through another obstacle course, this time designed by Chef. This course is full of difficult twists, turns, loops, and traps designed to wreck your plane. Speaking of which, if you wreck your plane then its game over. You lose and the other team wins. If you make it through that, you'll go through the much easier course designed by our interns, passing through checkpoints made out of paper so we can be aure you properly passed a checkpoint. After that's done all thats left to do is shoot down the targets we've placed for you." Chris finished, motioning to the silver and gold balloons scattered around the acre, each tied down to a bag of sand to weigh them down.

"After both teams have finished every task, there's one last part of the challenge that's left. Using your pea shooters, you'll shoot down the opposing plane, first team to do that wins the challenge. Now since there are six parts of this challenge, six members of your team will each take turns flying your plane. Choose your orders wisely sonce you can't change them once you've made your choice. I'll give you five minutes to make your choice."

The two teams huddled up, some of the teens were a bit more hesitant to start the challenge while others seemed confident and even a bit excited.

"I'll be shooting down their plane, I've got it in the bag!" Kaz proclaimed.

"Who died and made you team captain?" Clara replied adamantly.

"Do you have any other bright ideas? Because if so I'd love to hear them!" Kaz snapped.

"Woah! Calm down, I'm sure we can so this without fighting!" Emma added, not wanting things to get physical.

"She's right, now let's try doing this without arguing, ok?" Nanette pleaded.

* * *

The five minutes had passed, and both teams were ready to begin. January and Shawn were the first two for their teams to fly their planes. Chef waved a checkered flag, signaling the start of the challenge. The two planes raved off into the sky, already heading towards their first obstacle, a barrel roll through a series of hoops. Due to their inexperience of flying their plane, the two teens were barely able to get through hoops.

Shawn was begining to take the lead when they had to circle around part of the backyard. However, January began to slowly overtake Shawn when she banked her plane at an angle that was good enough for her team to take the lead.

"Don't let her beat you!" Adrian called out.

"He's right." Edward added. "Remember this is our chance to get an early lead."

January and Shawn were getting ready for the last part of Chris' obstacle course, an Outside Loop, which was essentially a loop the loop, however instead of flying upward and backwards, the pilot would instead fly downwards and backwards.

The two began performing the Outside Loop, getting dangerously low to the ground and crashing, but thankfully they successfully completed the loop and Chris' obstacle course.

The two then passed control of the plane over to Emma and Josh, who guided the planes back to their teams to tie the pails of water to each plane. Once the pails were secure, the two fllew them above Chef's vegetable patch for their part of the challenge, both trying different methods to pour the water. Josh tried to fly the plane in a manner in which the pail would tip just enough for the water to pour out onto the plants, however this method caused the water to pour in intervals; Emma gained altitude and did a nose dive towaeds the plants, causing the water to spread out evenly over the vegetables, giving the Bats a better lead.

Emma passed control of the plane over to Adrian, who would complete Chef's obstacle course. The course had consisted of several loops that required the planes to fly upside down and sideways, the flaming rings the planes had to fly through were now much smaller than with Chris' course. To add to the difficulty, the interns were also shooting bean bags out of cannons to destroy the planes.

"Oh this is gonna be good!" Chef laughed as he pulled out his spaghetti bazooka that he used frequently during seasons 4-6.

"As Scott would say, seriously?" Toshiko said.

 ***confessionals***

 **Jason:** Part of me wants to say that Chris is losing his edge with a challenge like this, but another part of me knows the next challenge is probably going to he a lot more painful.

 **Chelsea:** At this rate i'll never get voted off! Ugh!

 **Andi:** I know this is kond of a weord question, but what do you think the spaghetti from that thing tastes like?

 **Chris:** Hey, it's a nice day and I wanted to do something outside today, is that so wrong?

 ***end confessionals***

Adrian and Toshiko tried their absolute hardest to get their planes through Chef's course with minimal damage, though it proved to be easier said than done with Chef and the interns opening fire on their planes. Toshiko managed to pull ahead of Adrian when the latter was trying to avoid Chef's spaghetti cannon, putting the Scorpions in the lead.

'Come on, come on!' Chelsea thought to herself.

"He can still win, right?" Karlene asked.

"Hm? Oh yeah, I'm sure he can do it!" Chelsea replied.

"He better." Hester added.

The two pilots continued to fly through the course as best as they could, eventually finishing it at around the same time.

Adrian and Toshiko passed control of the planes over to Clara and Kenji, who shot the frozen peas at clay sculptures and pots. One of the sculpters was a bust of Chris.

"Wait! Don't shoot me!" Chris pleaded. Running into the plane's line of fire to retrieve his clay self. "Someone is _so_ getting fired!"

The two contestants were evenly matched in both piloting their planes and shooting their targets.

"You're pretty good!" Clara said with a competitive smirk.

"You're not too bad yourself!" Kenji replied with a similar smile.

"Oh save us the senseless flirting, brother!" Kazuki hissed, causing his brother to glare at his brother and blush in embarrassment.

 ***confessional***

 **Clara:** Maybe it was Kenji who gave me the rose, but what would his sister say about that?

 ***end confessional***

The two finished shooting all of their targets, neither one get get ahead of the other for very long. They now passed control of the planes over to Jason and Karlene, who would fly the planes through the checkpoints.

What surprised the two though was that Chef and the interns were still firing at them.

"Hey, they got through Chef's course, why are they still shooting at them?!" Felicity questioned.

"You really think we'd let you off that easily? By the way, if you miss a checkpoint then you can not advance, so fly carefully." Chris explained, his last statement being said with a hint of a mocking tone.

The two pilots tried to reach every checkpoint without getting hit, though like with every other part of the challenge, it proved to he difficult since some of the checkpoints were closer to the ground, meaning Chef could get an easier shot, others were too high, causing the planes to stall and not reach the height that it needed.

Chef aimed at the Scorpions' plane and locked onto it, Marlene tried to avoid his shot, but the side of the plane was still hit, causing it to spiral out of control.

"Please fall, please fall, please fall!" Kaz chanted.

'Please don't fall, please don't fall, please don't fall!' Chelsea thought to herself.

Karlene tried her absolute hardest to regain control of the plane, just as her team's plane was about to crash, she managed to finally regain control and get a small boost of speed, however it was not enough to pass the Scorpions.

Control of the planes finally passed onto Kazuki and Charlotte, who would habe to face off against each other in a dogfight to the finish.

"You really think a simple girl like you could beat me?!" Kaz gloated.

"Well I'll never know unless I try, I guess. But you really shouldn't underestimate me." Charlotte replied.

Kaz trailed Charlotte, firing at her from behind. Just as he felt as though he had a good shot at her, he avoided a bean bag that was flung at his plane.

"Again with this?" Hester asked.

"Hey, it makes things more fun!" Chris replied.

After a little while, Kaz had another shot lined up, before he could pull the trigger, Charlotte performed an outside loop to completely avoid the attack. After recovering from the loop, Charlotte didn't hesitate to fire back at the enemy plane, getting a few hits in but not causing enough damage to destroy the plane.

Charlotte tried to fly underneat Kaz to get the finishing blow, but Chef beat her to the punch, blasting the Bats' plane with his bazooka.

"Bullseye!" Chef called out in pride.

"F*ck!" Kaz cursed as his plane plummeted to the ground, its front propeller barely twitching and its wings nearly broken in half.

"Nice shot, Chef! Well, the rule still stands; sonce the Bats' plane was destroyed, the Silver Scorpions win again!" Chris announced.

"You've got to be kidding!" Nanette groaned.

"Those are the rules, no sense changing them now. I'll see you Bats tonight." Chris said before heading back inside.

* * *

Later that evening, Ben had just exited the restroom and came face to face with Kazuki and Edward.

"Ben, we'd like to have a word with you." Kaz said.

"Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" Ben replied.

"Easy, easy! You're not in trouble. We have a proposition for you."

"What kind of proposition?" Ben asked.

"The three of us in an alliance." Edward answered.

"Why would I join an alliance with you two? We're not on the same team." Ben questioned.

"Simple, if you join us then we'll guarantee you'll be safe while you can guarantee pur safety. We scratch your back, you scratch ours." Kaz explained.

"And once we get to the final three?"

"Every man for themselves." Ed replied. Ban nodded in understanding, takong a moment to ponder his choice before shaking Kazuki's hand.

"I guess we have a deal. We'll talk about our plan later on. Dinner is almost ready, we'd best get there before anyone gets suspicious." Edward said as the three headed for the dining hall.

* * *

Dinner was surprisingly calm, the teens had a sort of vegetable stew for their dinner while Chris and Chef had steak and steamed vegetables.

"I've got to admit Chef, this might be slme of the best food you've ever cooked!" Chris applauded.

"Well those kids did do an ok job watering these vegetables." Chef replied.

Meanwhile, the Bats were pondering who to vote off. All eyes seemed to be on Kazuki.

"And why should you vote me off?" Kaz asked.

"Well you did say you has that win in the bag." Shawn replied.

"I lost because of Chef, not because of the other team."

'Come on, I'm sick of this place! Just vote me off!' Chelsea thought. 'Wait a sec!'

"Vote me off..." Chelsea said out loud, getting everyone's attention.

"Why?" Clara asked, clearly confused.

"Kaz only lost because of an accident, he deserves another chance. I don't to see another person get upset because they were voted off. Vote me off instead, I want to see you guys aucceed. If someone has to lose, let it be me!"

"That's actually pretty noble of you Chel!" Shawn noted.

The Scorpions heard everything that was going on, most of them didn't seem to mind, January was even relieved that her best friends wouldn't be targeted. Kenji and Toshiko however were much more worried.

 ***confessionals***

 **Kenji:** As noble as that girl is, is she serious?! Kaz needs to go now, he's to dangerous to be left in this game!

 **Toshiko:** Kazuki is being quiet, too quiet. He's planning something. He's also been spending time with that boy, Edward, he's either found his first target or an ally...

 **Andi:** I never would have guessed someone like Chelsea would ask to be eliminated. That's pretty cool of her if you ask me!

 **Chelsea:** Finally! Maybe now I can go home!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The time for the Elimination Ceremony finally came, the last of the votes had been tallied.

"Well here's something that doesn't happen very often. But the votes have been tallied and it's unanimous. Chelsea, its your turn to take a ride on the Train of Shame." Chris announced.

"Yes! Finally!" Chelsea said in glee.

"Wait, what?" Clara said in confusion.

"You mean you wanted to get voted off?" Nanette asked.

"Yup, and now I can finally go home!" Chelsea responded pridefully.

"You know you could have just quit, right?" Chris asked with a bit of a chuckle.

"Whatever, I'm out now and I can finally leave, peace!" Chelsea said as she boarded the train and departed.

"Well, after what might just be the quickest normal elimination of the series, Chelsea is gone and the Scorpions now outnumber the Bats. Will something like this happen again? Can the Bats rebound and take a victory or will the Scorpions just increase their lead. Find out on the jext episode of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off.

* * *

Everyone had begun getting ready for bed, now that Chelsea was gone Andi had her room all to herself. She was reading the journal, which at the point she was currently on was just the owner's life as a child; there was nothing too important so far. However this changed when she turned the next page.

'October 17 1860.

As of today I, Anthony Bartholomew Rosewood, have become thirteen years old, a man in the eyes of society. Father has spoken to me about something called a railway system that will be added to our home. Apparently it will be used for sending various resources across the entire country! Father had taken me into the city so that we would discuss the railway with some of Father's business partners. That was when I saw her, she was absolutely beautiful, a smile as radiant as the sun and eyes as blue as the sky. We managed to get a look at each other, however we did not get a chance to speak as Father had completed his business and we returned to our home. I hope to see her again someday, perhaps I can get a chance to learn her name.'

Andi wanted to read more but exhaustion was beginning to catch up with her as she soon went to bed.

* * *

Charlotte woke up at around two in the morning to use the bathroom, as she walked down the hallway she noticed someone that she thought she knew.

"Clara?" She asked.

Charlotte rubbed her eyes and saw an apparition that looked like Clara, except she was completely stark white. Suddenly the apparition morphed into the woman in the painting that was hanging in the foyer before it morphed again, this time having black hair, its eyes sank into its head and what looked like blood started flowing from its eyes and mouth.

Charlotte began feeling light headed, she closed her eyes and in an instant she felt normal again and the apparition was gone. Feeling freaked out, Charlotte immediately headed to the restroom and rushed back into her room.

* * *

 **Sorry for the late chapter, with college eating up my time these chapters may be up much more slowly but I hope you still liked this one.**


	6. Mystery With A Twistery

**Forgive the delay, finals are coming up for me again and I have to register for classes again. But with summer quickly approaching, future chapters should be coming more quickly. But for now, enjoy!**

* * *

"Previously on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, the sun was shining, birds were singing, it seemed like a perfect day for some time outside in the sun. But unfortunately for out contestants, its never all fun and games. For our challenge, we took it outside and decided to keep it simple with a plane race involving a variety of challenges. After getting blasted out of the sky thanks to Chef, the Bronze Bats voted off Chelsea, who actually wanted to be voted off! I don't think I should let her off that easy though... Anyway, what will today's challenge hold for the teams today? Can the Bats bounce back after their loss? Or will the Scorpions only increase their lead? Find out right here on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Charlotte was just beginning to wake up, she rubbed her eyes and looked around to notice she wasn't in her room. She was also surprised by the fact that Chris didn't wake everyone up at the usual time.

"About time you got up."

Charlotte looked up to see Edward with her. He appeared to had just woken up as well since he was also in his pajamas.

The two were in the foyer, the manor was completely silent until the intercom turned on.

"Good morning sleeping beauties!" Chris greeted. "Now I know youre gonna want breakfast but we're doing today's challenge bright and early today! Now, your teammates are hidden all around the manor, your challenge is to find all the members of your team before noon. If you can't find them all before then, then the team who has the most members found will be declared as the winner. I'll give you a clue to find one of them and with each member of your team you find, you also get another clue to find your next teammate. Anyone you find can help you if they choose to."

"So what are the clues?" Edward asked.

"Charlotte, you'll find a friend where Chef likes to be. Ed, your teammate is where you don't want to be. Any questions?'

"Yeah, can we change out of our pajamas?" Charlotte asked.

"I mean you can but you'd be burning daylight, and Eddie is already looking to win this challenge!" Chris answered.

"Wha-? Charlotte said as she turned around to see Edward already running down a highway to begin his search. "Oh come on!"

 ***confessional***

 **Charlotte:** Honestly I should have seen that coming...

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Edward continued running until he was sure Charlotte couldn't see him.

'Somewhere I wouldn't want to be...' Edward thought to himself.

'The kitchen? No, Chef's food may be crap but there could be worse places.

The basement? ... No, I haven't even seen it... Wait, the train station!'

* * *

Charlotte headed over to the kitchen as it seemed like the most obvious answer. Sure enough, Chef was there, and he appeared to be crying.

"Chef?" Charlotte asked, as intimidating of a guy as Chef was, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." Chef replied. "I'm chopping up onions."

Charlotte went to go console him but as she got closer she saw that he actually was chopping onions... Seeing the onion however gave Charlotte an idea.

"The garden! Of course!" She said out loud.

"Don't mess up my garden!" Chef shouted.

* * *

Edward hurried over the the train system, where Karlene was stuck in the ticket booth, she had a bronze colored envelope with her. She appeared to say something but Edward couldn't hear her, Chris had apparently changed the glass used for the ticket booth to a kind that blocked sound.

"I can't hear you." Edward mouthed, making physical movements to make sure Karlene understood what he was trying to say.

Karlene responded with hand movements that Edward didn't understand. She breathed onto the glass, causing it to become covered in fog, she then began to write words backwards as best as she could so they would appear forwards for Edward.

The words read: door locked, need key.

"Do you have any idea where it might be?" Edward asked. Karlene pointed to one of the chairs behind Edward. The young man didn't waste any time in searching for the key, which he found reasonably quickly underneath the very seat Chelsea was sitting under before her elimination.

"Alright, what does the clue say?" Edward asked rather impatiently.

"'You've found one, but you should hurry to find your next team member, or your chance of victory will be flushed away.'"

"Too easy." Ed sighed. "By the way, what was up with those hand gestures?"

"Sign language!" Karlene answered, giving her teammate a big smile. Edward just rolled his eyes and turned to leave. Karlene sighed as she followed him.

* * *

Charlotte rushed over to Chef's garden and looked around, trying to think of where her teammate was. A knocking sound coming from the tool shed caught her attention.

"Hello?" She asked as she knocked on tje door to the cabin.

"Charlotte? Its me Santiago? What the heck happened?!"

"Its today's challenge, everyone's trapped somewhere and I need to get them out." Charlotte explained.

"Man, why does the challenge have to be like this?" Santiago asked in an annoyed tone as he leaned against the door. The door seemed to have some sort of button on it. Once itnwas pressed, the bottom simply appeared on Charlotte's side of the door.

"Hm?"

Charlotte pressed the button in curiosity, causing it to reappear on Santiago's side.

"Hey, is there a button on the door?" Charlotte asked. Santiago turned to look at the door and noticed the button.

"So that's what that was, I knew I felt something." Santiago replied. He pressed it again, causing it to go back to Charlotte.

"What if we both pressed on it?" Charlotte proposed. "I'll press it again but you hold your hand down on where it would be."

"Well we got nothing to lose." Santiago said, following Charlotte's instruction, Charlotte pressed the button again and with Santiago already having it pressed, the button didn't appear on either side and an audible clicking sound was heard, opening the door.

"Thanks for getting me outta there. I found this when I woke up by the way." Santiago said, handing Charlotte a silver envelope, which she opened and began to read.

"'In a situation like this, look to the sky', sounds like we need to go to the roof."

"Well then what are we waiting for?!" Santiago announced as the two headed inside.

* * *

Edward and Karlene went to the upper floors to search the bathrooms, splitting up so they could check both the girl's and boy's restrooms.

"Hello?"

"Is someone there?"

Both Bats appeared to have people in the restrooms they were searching in.

"Who's there?"

"Which team are you on?" Karlene and Edward aaked in that order.

"Karlene? It's me, Nanette!"

"Nanette! Thank goodness! We're doing the challenge already. Edward found me a few minutes ago!" Karlene explained.

"Oh? Do tell what your alone time was like with him! But do that after you get me out of here. I overheard Chris saying something about the boys bathroom too." Nanette responded.

"Edward is there now so maybe he can help."

* * *

"So if we lose then who do we target first?" Edward asked.

"We'll get there if we have to, but let's focus on winning so we don't have to go there. We'll talk to Ben after we win and let him pick which member of his team he wants to get rid of first."

"You're a wicked guy Kaz... Now how do we get you out of there?"

"I overheard Chris ans Chef saying the lock to this door is connected to the one in the girl's room. So someone is in there, I just don't know how it's locked..." Kaz answered. He looked down, trying to think of a solution when he noticed a blinking red light coming from the stall next to his. "Hey, check the stall to my left."

Edward went into the stall and found some sort of electronic device. As he looked over it, he noticed an on/off button on it. Edward didn't waste a second in turning the device off, which unlocked the doors in both restrooms.

* * *

The door that kept Nanette locked up opened when Edward turned off the device, leaving jer relieved but confused.

"Wait what just happened?"

"Edward must have found out what to do! Isn't he smart!" Marlene gushed.

"I don't want to interrupt your gushing about your crush but this was behind the door." Nanette said, handing Karlene another envelope with a piece of paper inside, the paper appeared to be torn in half. The half the girls had seemed to be indecipherable on its own.

* * *

While the Bats were in the bathrooms, Charlotte and Santiago hurried over to the stairway leading to the door to the roof.

"Ok, the roof is probably locked, now how do we get past it?" Charlotte pondered.

"Maybe there's something we can use to pick the lock..." Santiago suggested.

Surprisingly the door opened on its own revealing Toshiko, who simply opened the door normally.

"Did Chris actually leave this door unlocked?!" Charlotte asked in shock.

"Oh no!" Toshiko giggled. "If one puts their mind to it, one can acheive much! ... Also I used a bobby pin to pick the lock."

"Seriously?" Santiago asked.

"We don't seem to have much time I'm assuming. I found this envelope close to me when I woke up. It says 'To solve the puzzle, expand your mind', so I'm assuming we should head to the library." Toshiko stated.

"Great, coming up stairs just to go right back down again..." Charlotte sighed.

 ***confessionals***

 **Charlotte:** Honestly I feel like Toshiko is lind of like Dawn from season four. Both have this sort of weird air about them. Not trying to sound mean though...

 **Santiago:** Ok that girl is kinda weird, but as long as she can help us win then I'll run with it.

 **Toshiko:** As much as I dislike my siblings' antics, I must admit that I did pick up some tips on lockpicking from my sister Asuka.

 **Nanette:** As much as I'd like to help Karlene with her crush, I can't have her lose focus on the game.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Adrian sat in Andi's room waiting patiently for his team to find him. The sound of a clock on the wall was the only thing making any sound. Suddenly the sound of steps coming from behind the wall began to creep through Adrian's ears. Curiously, he walked over to the wall and placed his ear to it so he could listen to it more clearly.

The hidden passageway suddenly opened up and for a second Adrian thought he saw a person with completely red skin, but he suddenly blacked out when he saw it.

He woke up to the room now drastically different. The walls, ceiling and furtinure wrre all pitch black with white outlines. Adrian looked in the direction of the secret passage and saw that the hole and ladder that were there the night Andi explored the basement was now completely boarded off. He then turned around and saw that the door was missing and instead replaced with bricks blocking what would be the only way out of the room under normal circumstances.

Blood suddenly seeped out of the bricks, it was the only thing in the room that was not black or white. The blood then began to spell a message...

'Angela...'

Once Adrian saw this, blood suddenly appeared on the other walls as well...

'He doesn't deserve you...'

'We belong together!'

'He is a fool!'

'We are meant to be!'

Adrian turned back to the secret passage and saw the red figure from earlier, except now he got a better look at it.

It was some sort of humanoid with red skin, as though its skin was completely burned off, its jaw was hanging out and the head of the humanoid resembled a skull, as though whoever this was was completely malnourished. It seemed to be wearing an old, tattered suit, similar to one worn by nobleman from the 1860's.

"You're not Angela..." It said bitterly, an ounce of frustration and anger in its voice. It then charged at Adrian at blinding speed, knocking him out...

* * *

While Adrian was having his experience the Bats regrouped, both of them had two halves of the clue, which was revealed to be double sided, one side having a skull and the other showing the path to the nearby cemetery.

The four arrived at the cemetary, which was unlocked, but a thumping sound came from a coffin which was above ground, and a hole was in it for some reason.

"Ok, I am _not_ going near that." Karlene said sternly.

"I'm with you on that one." Nanette agreed.

"Oh calm down you big babies, theres no such thing as ghosts or zombies. Aside from that we need three keys to open up this thing, and I'm guessing they're around the cemetery somewhere." Kaz said, not wanting to deal with any complaints.

"Who decides to build a cemetery next to a place like this anyway?" Karlene said as she began her search.

Kaz found one of the keys on a large tombstone. He then noticed that there was some moss growing on the stone. Out of respect for the dead, he brushed it off. When he read the name on the tombstone, he raised an eyebrow in intruige.

'Here lies Anthony Bartholomew Rosewood, alongside his father; the two of which are responsible for the railroad which helped this nation flourish. Oct. 17, 1847-1909'

"Found one!" Nanette called out.

"I've got the second one here!" Karlene added.

"Then we've found them then." Kaz said, snapping back to reality. The three inserted the keeys into the coffin and openes it, revealing Hester; who did not look happy.

"Those guys have some nerve locking me up like that!" Hester scowled. "So what's going on here?"

"Its the challenge for today. Everyone is hidden either inside or outaide the manor and we need to find them all before the other team does, you should have a clue on you." Edward explained.

"Well it's not on me." Hester remarked.

"It's in here." Karlene said. "'You may have had a rude awakening, but if it's comfort you seek, head to the room of the one who began the challenge'."

"Well, looks like were heading to our room." Kaz said, feigning enthusiasm.

"It's gonna be a long day..." Hester moaned as her stomach grumbled, nobody had even eaten breakfast yet.

* * *

"Adrian..."

...

"Adrian..."

...

"Come on Adrian, don't play with us like this, dude..."

Adrian groggily got up and saw nearly every member of his team except for Emma.

"Ugh. What happened?" Adrian asked as he stood up.

"Well we're doing the challenge for today..." Hester began before Adrian cut her off.

"Not that, I already knew. I mean when and how did I black out?"

"I don't know, but we just found you like this." Clara answered.

"If you're gonna nap then you should at least stay in your bed." Kaz commented.

"I remember seeing this red man. He attacked me and everything went dark." Adrian explained.

"Are you alright?" Marlene asked out of concern for her teammate.

"He spoke to me, mentioning someone named Angela."

"Not to sound like a jerk, dude, but you should tell us this later. We've got a challenge to win." Shawn stated.

"And with the Silver Scorpions finding January, both teams need to find just one more person!" Chris announced.

"Come on, we don't have any tine to waste! What does the clue say?" Kaz asked impatiently.

"Right. 'Your last target is lost in a rather obvious location'. Ok let's think about this, What s the one place in or around the manor we haven't checked?" Adrian said.

The group was silent for a moment before Clara found the answer.

"She's gotta be in the hedge maze! Think about it, it makes sense to get lost in a maze, right?"

"Good call, everybody move!" Edward announced as they all rushed to the garden.

* * *

"'Your last teammate is enjoying the gentle morning breeze and sunshine out front'." Kenji read, the last clue for his team in his hand.

"Is he out in the backyard?" January asked.

"That's impossible, we saw every part of the backyard earlier, if he was there then we would have seen him." Andi replied.

"Then he's probably out front." Felicity stated. The Scorpions hurried outside and saw Josh hanging from the back of his shirt on the second floor window.

"Hey Josh, what are ya' doin' up there?" Jason asked.

"Oh, you know, just hanging around." Josh replied comedically.

"Well lets get you down here you big jerk!" Kenji said humorously, poking fun at Josh's predicament.

"And how are we gonna do that?" Cherry asked.

"Alright, human ladder time." Josh groaned.

* * *

The Bats were in the hedge maze in the backyard, still trying to find Emma. They tried calling out to her but she didn't respond.

The team continued searching every corner, dead end, and pathway they could but they still could not find her.

'It shouldn't be this hard to find one girl...' Kaz thought to himself. He continued walking on the path he was on until he found a sort of a gazebo surrounded by roses and Cherry trees. There was a crate in the gazebo that looked poorly built.

"Emma? You there?" Kaz said. He could hear someone talking inside but it was too muffled for him to hear clearly. He tried to pry the crate open and was successful in breaking one of the sides.

Emma crawled out of the crate and was greeted by Kazuki's hand. He was offering to help her up. Emma took his hand, she was in awe at the sight around her, the gazebo, the roses and the sunlight created a peaceful environment.

"And the game is over!" Chris announced. "The Bronze Bats win! Too bad its already almost noon. Hehe."

The two teams groaned as they never got a chance to eat.

The Scorpions had already completed their human ladder, Cherry Ash was just about to reach for Josh when their team had lost.

"Ugh, well, let's at least get you down from there." She said. Just as they grabbed each other's hands, Chris opened the window that Josh hung from, causing him to fall. Since Cherry was holding his hand, she fell too, which caused the ladder and everyone else to fall as well.

"Hey Scorpions, looks like the train is calling your names!" Chris teased with a smirk.

* * *

Later that afternoon, everyone was having lunch (or breakfast in their case), Karlene was telling her best friends about how Edward found her.

"You really are crushing on him, aren't you?" January asked, to which Karlene nodded.

"Then I say we should help her!" January replied. Nanette was about to agree but she suddenly felt her chest tighten along with an unexplainable anxiety. Her face went slightly paler, which her friends noticed.

"Are you ok Nanette?" Karlene asked.

"Yeah, you look like you're going to be sick. If you are please warn us." January added, getting ready to step back. Nanette tried as hard as she could to play it off.

"Oh no, I'm fine! Maybe I was just eating a bit too fast and got a little case of heartburn. But I'll help you!" Nanette assured them. Karlene's face lit up with joy.

"Oh thank you, you two are the best friends a girl could ask for!" She said with glee.

 ***confessional***

 **Nanette:** That wasn't heartburn, and its happened before. I can't properly explain it, but its like that sensation only happens when something bad is going to happen. Plus it feels extrêmement mal à l'aise! I should keep an eye out for Karlene's sake.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

In another part of the manor; Kaz, Ben, and Edward met up to talk about their alliance.

"So Ben, your team is sending someone home. Kaz and I have decided that you should tell us who you want gone and we'll do what we can to make sure they leave." Edward explained.

"Well I don't really want to get rid of this guy because he might be useful. But if he sticks around too long he'll be a threat so here's who I'm thinking..." Ben began.

* * *

The twins were sitting on the steps of the backyard having their own lunch. Emma seemed lost in thought, staring at the cap of the bottle of water she was drinking from.

"You alright sis?" Felocity asked, snapping her sister out of the trance she seemed to be in.

"Hm? Y-yeah I'm okay. It's just that... I've been thinking about something since the challenge." Emma said.

"What is it?"

"See, its about this guy..."

"Oh? Well don't keep me hanging sis! Give me the details!" Felicity with intruige.

"Attention Scorpions, since I dont feel like waiting until sundown for the elimination, were going to have it now! I'll see you there." Chris announced.

"I guess you can tell me later." Felicity said, Emma gave her sister a concerned glance as she headed inside.

* * *

The train station became filled with anticipation. The Silver Scorpions had just finished making their votes and it became silent until Chris finished tallying them.

"Well ladies and gents, the votes have been tallied and its time for one of you to take the ride on the Train of Shame over to the Station of Loserdom! You know how this world, if I call your name then you're safe, for now. The first marshmallow goes to... Josh."

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"Andi."

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"Felicity."

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"Jason."

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"Charlotte."

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"And Kenji. Now the rest of you got at least one vote... Next marshmallow goes to... Cherry."

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"January."

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"And Ben. So it comes down to Toshiko and Santiago, which of you was spared elimination? The last marshmallow of the night goes to..."

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"Toshiko." Chris said, tossing the girl jer marshmallow. Toshiko didnt seem too happy though, she looked more shocked than anything.

"Aww no!" Cherry said, giving Santiago a hug.

"This isn't right." Toshiko said. Kenji seemes to quickly catch on to what Toshiko was implying.

"Sister, did you... Vote for yourself?"

Toshiko nodded, which confirmed Kenji's suspicion.

"Santiago wasn't supposed to lose, I sense foul play!" Toshiko proclaimed.

"Well, foul play or not, Santiago is technically out of the game now. But Santiago, if you find the Gold Train Ticket, you can come back into the game." Chris explained.

"Santiago, I promise that I _will_ find out who did this!" Toshiko promised. Santiago tried to respond but Chef shoved him onto the train, which began leaving the station.

"And so ends another episode, was Santiago really voted off unfairly? If so, can Toshiko find out who did it? But more importantly, can the Scorpions bounce back after what could very well be the heaviest loss yet? Find out on the next dramatic episode of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off.

* * *

As the sun was going down Adrian went over to Andi's room, and knocked on her door.

"Andromita, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh, sure, what's up?" Andi answered.

"Is there a secret exit to your room?" Adrian asked, Andi looked surprised when he mentioned the secret area.

"There is but, how did you know?"

"I was locked in your room during the challenge and while I was in here a red... thing, came out of that part of your room and knocked me out for a couple of hours." Adrian explained. "I want to make sure this wasn't a hallucination, can you show me this hidden area?"

Andi nodded and allowed Adrian into her room. Andi placed her hand on the same spot as when she was in her trance two days ago, revealing the hidden passage.

"How did you discover this?!"

"I... Don't know. I just suddenly woke up a few days ago and it's like I knew it was there. Then I was suddenly in the basement, I remember walking down a hallway that suddenly turned all bloody and then I blacked out just like you did." Andi explained.

"There's definitely something strange going on in this manor, whether Chris is responsible or not remains to be seen." Adrian stated. "Thank you for showing me this."

Adrian left the room, tryinf to comprehend what Andi told him and what he saw. Andi closed the passage and went back to reading the journal.

'October 20, 1860.

I went back to the city with my father to discuss the railroad system. I was hoping to see the girl again. Imagine my luck to find that she was right where she was when I had first seen her several days ago. I brought up the courage to speak to her and learn her name: Angela. Such a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. We spoke for some time until another young man around the same age as me claimed to be the one who would end up being her husband. Angela vigorously denied wishing to be associated with this boy but he insisted she marry him. His attitude was rather repulsive. He said that his name was Henry Gallagher. I do hope I never come across him again whenever I spend time with Angela.

However things were not entirely negative, a man of science approached Angela and I asking to test one of his inventions on the two of us. He called it a camera. A device that would produce an image of us that would stick on a piece of paper, or so I think he explained; the art of science has never been my strong suit. He took several photos of Angela and I together though not every one of them proved to be successful. There was one photo of Angela by herself that was absolutely perfect. The man was kind enough to let us keep the photos and asked us to spread the word of his invention. Perhaps he may be on to something as advanced and amazing as the railroad! For now, I am just thankful that I was able to properly meet Angela and that she gifted me with the photo of her. I promise to cherish it!'

Andi finished reading the entry and looked at the photo of the girl that looked similar to Clara.

'So this is that girl, Angela? She looks just like Clara. Is she the same woman from the portraits in the foyer?' She thought to herself as she went back to reading the journal.

* * *

Inside the boiler room deep within the basement, there were a pile of old boxes and furniture from decades ago, deapite the age they were ingood condition, aside from the dust. However, a pair of hands came out from behind the pile, a humanoid figure lifted itself from out of the pile. It looked just like the one Adrian saw while he was unconscious.

"Angela..." It croaked before vanishing into thin air...

* * *

 **I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, with summer break approaching I should be able to get chapters out a little faster. As for now, the plot thickens and the mystery deepens...**


	7. Hide and Scream

**And the mystery continues!**

* * *

"Previously on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, our teams had a bit a rough awakening, and for a good reason: it was time for a challenge to start off the day! What was the challenge you may ask? Find all your teammates who were all scattered around the manor. After spending way too much time to finish the challenge, the Bronze Bats ended up taking the victory. This left the Scorpions being forced to send someone home, and this somebody was Santiago. But that wasn't the end of it, Toshiko thinks that he was voted off unfairly? Is she right? But that still isnt the end of the myateries! During the challenge, it looks like little Emma caught some feelings for Kazuki! Is it a match made in heaven? Or one destined to crash and burn? There's also Karlene who admitted her own feelings for Edward to her best friends. But I think I've said too much, will any of tbis lead to anything? Find out right here on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

It was around seven in the evening, the two teams were having dinner in the mess hall.

"Okay sister, what did you need to talk to us about?" Kenji asked, talking about the events of last night's elimination.

"Yeah, you do kind of need to explain a few things." Charlotte added. Toshiko sighed before she answered.

"Last night Santiago was not supposed to be voted out. I did indeed vote myself off and I figured you would have voted me off rather than Santiago since his physical strength would have been better for the team. The reason I feel as though you would have voted for me is simply because my... behaviors and talents seemed strange to most of you, which gave you more than enough of a reason to vote for me." Toshiko explained.

"Well you can be a bit weird." January responded. "But I don't think that really explains why you voted for yourself."

"The truth may sound a bit strange to you but... I've honestly come to like you all." Toshiko said with a smile. "I believed you all should get a chance to get ahead in the game."

"Really?" Felicity asked, confused and slightly doubtful.

"Truthfully I don't very much care for the money. I had only really joined because I saw how much fun my sister, Asuka, had last season I thought it would he a good experience."

"Well... There's no sense in being bummed out about the past." Andi proclaimed.

"Yeah, you may be a little weird but aren't we all?" Josh added.

"You said that Santiago was voted off unfairly though. What's the deal about that?" Jason asked.

"Yeah! What did you mean about that?" Cherry questioned, playing with her food rather than eating it, though nobody really wanted to eat it anyway.

"Yes. I truly believed that last night I was supposed to he the one who would get voted off. Now I honestly don't know if any of you voted for him but if I'm correct then I believe the votes were tampered with." Toshiko explained.

Ben stayed silent on the matter, glancing at the other team. Josh and Andi noticed Ben's behavior. Andi whistled to get his attention.

"Earth to Benjamin." She said. "Is there something we should know about?"

Everyone turned to Ben who knew he had to say something.

"Yeah. I think someone from the other team might've done it..." Ben lied. In truth he and Edward had tampered with the votes to take out who they believed was the more immediate threat.

"Who would've..." Kanji pondered before he and his sister easily found their answer.

"Kaz... I should've known. Ben sighed to himself, believing he was off the hook for the time being

 ***confessionals***

 **Toshiko:** I knew it was only a matter of time before Kazuki tried something. He must he stopped as soon as possible! Why couldn't my brother just play fair?!

 **Kenji:** My brother is like a cobra; silent, deadly, and patient. He will wait until the precise moment to strike and when he does it stings.

 **January:** Is the other team really targeting us like that? Are they going to go after me next? What about the others?! I just started getting to know them!

 **Ben:** Aww crap now theyre onto us, or at least on to Kaz. I gotta think ahout this...

 ***end confessionals** *****

Suddenly Chris entered the mess hall whistling cheeffully to himself, getting everyone's attention. Chris noticed the sudden silence and stopped himself.

"What?" Chris asked. Hester then groaned.

"Alright McLean whats the challenge?"

"Can't a guy whistle to himself? I just came to talk to Chef!" Chris replied. Everyone went back to talk to talking amongst themselves, keeping a close eye on Chris.

Chris entered the the kitchen, Chef was shining a dart gun, an eager from plastered on his face.

"Looks like someone's ready." Chris chuckled, keeping sure to keep his voice down.

"Oh I'm more than ready!" Chef replied. "Is the new intern done yet?"

"Let me check... Hey, you done yet? We gotta get the challenge started!"

Chris did get a response but it was rather difficult to hear due to some kind of interference, though he was still able to understand what the intern said

"Great! Then we'll meet you outside of the mess hall then."

Chtis and Chef left the mess hall, returning five minutes later holding tranquilizer dart guns, they wore night vision goggles and had black informs on.

"It's time!" Chris chimed. "You guys wanted a challenge and now you get one! But before I explain what it is, I'd like to introduce you all to our new intern!"

The new intern entered the mess hall, revealing themselves to be Chelsea. She had similar equipment to Chris and Chef and the look on her face gave the immediate impression that she would habe rather stayed at the Station of Failure.

"Please end my suffering..." Chelsea groaned.

"Chelsea will be here helping Chef and I with these challenges. It beats her doing absolutely nothing of interest at the Station of Failure!" Chris said gleefully, putting his arm around her shoulder as he gave everyone a thumbs up, a big smile on his face. The disdainful look on Chelsea's face contrasted with Chris so much that everyone else felt sorry for her, even Chef was a little guilty

"Now since she's an intern, she can't dorm with Andi anymore, can't have any illegal alliances, Chef..." Chris pointed out, glaring at his co-host.

"Hey! I haven't done that since season two!" Chef snapped.

"But more importantly, we have a challenge to do, and tonight we're shutting the power to this place down! All of you will hide somewhere in the manor or the backyard, trying your best to stay hidden until sunrise or until everyone on the other team has been found. Last team standing wins, but if both teams last until sunrise then the team with more members wins. If by some chance everyone gets caught or both teams male it to the end with the same number of team members, then nobody wins immunity and everyone is on the chopping block!" Chris explained.

"The three of us will be looking for you and in the name of fairness, you have ten minutes to hide. Now, these tranquilizer guns will put you to sleep for about 8 hours, if you're hit, the other interns will bring you to your room. We'll have the elimination ceremony in the morning and there won't be a challenge after that until the following day so we can get back on schedule. You have ten minutes, starting now!"

The contestants bolted out of the mess hall as fast as they could.

* * *

Shawn headed up towards the roof, he looked around to find a good hiding spot, though that idea was rather difficult given how empty and barren the roof actually was.

'Where to hide?' He thought to himself as he looked around. He saw shadows that were cast by the ventilation system. "Perfect!" He said out loud as he hid in the shadows, lying down as flat as he could. The dark clothes he wore provided a near perfect camouflage when compared to the shadows.

 ***confessional***

 **Shawn:** If I had more time to think of a good hiding spot then maybe I could have found a better spot but for now this is the best I could do.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Karlene, Brian, Josh, and Jason all ran to the backyard each going in a different direction afterwards. Jason bolted towarsa the shed, Josh tried to join him but he was quickly kicked out.

"No way dude. Sorry, but its better if you pick a different spot. If we're caught then it'll be harsher on the rest of the team." Jason explained before shutting him out.

Josh panicked for a bit before he followed Brian, who was headed towards the path leading to the graveyard.

Karlene couldn't find a good spot so she headed back inside but she stopped when she looked at the flowers...

 ***confessionals***

 **Jason:** Maybe it was harsh of me to not let Joshy-boy stick with me but its better for the team if I don't

 **Josh:** I get why Jason answered the way he did, but that got me thinking, if I do end up getting caught then I can at least take someone from the other team down with me!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Charlotte, January and Andromita tried to find a place to hide in the foyer but panic was quicmly beginning to affect them, especially since they didnt habe much time.

"Whatdowedo?! Whatdowedo!? What do we do?!" January said, she spoke as though she was on a sugar rush, the other girls could barely understand what she was saying. Andi quickly took a hold of the girl.

"January! Calm down." Andi said sternly, but calmly. "Panicking won't help us."

"She's right." Charlotte agreed. "We need a place to lay low until morning. Now I don't remember Chris saying we couldn't hide in the front yard so I'm heading there. But I think its better if you two find another place to hide.

"Um... OH! I know!" January said with glee, she headed towards the organ and hid beneath it., the stool provided little cover and January wasn't very well hidden. "What do you think?"

"That's not really a good place to hide..." Charlotte replied. "Besides they have night vision goggles.

"We don't have much of a choice with this tine limit. Now I need to find my own hiding place, if you're heading to the front yard you should find a warm spot to hide in just in case it gets cold out there. I'll see you girls in the morning I guess..." Andi proclaimed as she headed upstairs.

"Good luck." Charlotte sighed as she headed outside. January curled up into a ball to hide herself as much as she could, the lights were still on, and the anticipation for the time when they turned off made her shudder.

 ***confessional***

 **Andi:** Honestly this challenge feels like something out of a movie.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Clara entered the library and saw Kenji trying to move a bookshelf away from the wall so he could squeeze between it and the wall.

"You're seriously trying that?" Clara asked.

"I mean, why not? I don't have any other ideas." Kenji replied.

Clara looked around the library to try and get an idea for a hiding spot, immediately getting one when she saw a ladder. Using said ladder, Clara hopped onto a bookshelf and lied down flat on top of it.

"Its not a perfect spot but it'll work better than trying to hide behind the bookshelf."

"So you're smart and pretty!" Kenji said with a smirk.

"W-what?! Where did that come from?" Clara asked with a bit of a blush.

"Just calling it as I see it." Kenji replied, going behind his shelf.

* * *

Edward, Kazuki, and Ben all met up in the boy's bathroom, thinking of what they need to do next. They had turned the showers and sinks on, the hot water flowing out masked the volume of theie voices.

"It's best if we take out the ones that nobody really cares for." Kaz proposed, confusing Ben.

"Why? We should take out the biggest threats now!"

"No." Edward replied flatly. "Take out the biggest threats and people will suspect something. Take out the weakest links and it'll hurt us later on."

"Now the only issue is who counts as a weak link and who is a threat." Kaz replied. Before either of the other boys could respond, the intercom system turned on.

"Attention everyone, the power will be shut off now!" Chris announced. The lights turned off, blanketing the manor and surrounding areas in a darkness that was only broken by the light generated by the moon in the clear night sky and the stars shining down from above.

The water however was still running, the steam being cast from it rising in the bathroom, leaving it feeling like a sauna and leaving the boys nearly blind except for the steam in front of them.

"We'll talk about this later, just find a place to hide!" Ben exclaimed.

"It's too risky to leave the room now, just pick a stall!" Kaz announced.

* * *

Chris, Chef, and Chelsea left the mess hall, they all had their gear ready.

"All right. Power's out and the kids should all be hidden by now." Chris said.

"So where do we start?" Chef asked.

"Well you can honestly do what you do best, Chef. This challenge does suit your talents. So... Go nuts!" Chris said. Chef gave an evil chuckle before he left to roam the halls. "Now as for you, you have to do your job or else you're back in the game."

"And what if go back in the game on purpose and get myself voted off again?" Chelsea asked.

"Then you'll be right back here working for me as an intern and I'll give you twice as much work to do with your pay cut by fifteen percent!"

"I hate you..." Chelsea hissed.

"Aww thanks!" Chris said with glee. "See ya' later!"

The two left the foyer, January waited until they were gone before she could sigh with relief.

* * *

Chef stalked the halls, despite his large size he moved nearly silently, as he moved he looked around the halls he looked around for any of the teens, listening closely to any sound that might have been made. He opened the foor to Adrian's room, which was empty. A fly flew into the room, the sound of buzzing broke the silence.

Chef raised his open hand, waited a moment and made his hand into a fist, crushing the fly. He then heard a door open in the foyer, he rushed downstairs to find the source of the sound. He waited to find another sound. It was faint buf he could hear the sound of footsteps coming from the dining room.

He rushed inside and found it empty. Chef looked around, heading into the kitchen, still seeing nothing.

Inside one of the drawers underneath the sink, Cherry peeked out and saw Chef scavenging the kitchen, she immediately withdrew into the darkness of the drawer, praying Chef didn't see her.

 ***confessionals***

 **January:** Chef is trying to give us all heart attacks isn't he.

 **Cherry:** Maybe hiding in the kitchen wasn't the best idea...

 **Chef:** I didn't spend six years in military training, five more teaching what I learned and four years learning how to cook to just let it all go to waste. That is why I love this show, even if Chris doesn't pay me as much as I deserve.

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Chris searched the backyard, he looked around and saw the shed, immediately seeing it as an obvious spot. He approached it as silently as he could, he slowly began reaching for the doorknob...

"Nor a chance!" Jason shouted as he barged out of the shed at full force, knocking Chris down in the process. The biker made a mad dash to the manor, Chris quickly got back up and aimed at Jason with the dart gun, getting a hit on the boy's shoulder. Jason fell forward instantly, snoring peacefully as the effects of the tranquilizer took effect.

Karlene watched what just transpired but tried her best to stay quiet.

"Hehe, one down." Chris chuckled to himself. "One down, gonna need someone to pick him up."

Two interns came out of the manor and took Jason's sleeping body back to his room. Chris looked around the backyard a bit more, looking directly at Karlene a few times but he ultimately did not see her, the brightness of the flowers in the nightvision goggles was nearly the same color as Karlene appeared in the goggles, giving her a sort of camouflage.

Since Chris couldn't see her, he headed into the graveyard.

* * *

Chelsea searched for members of the cast within the Elimination Station, loathing the fact that she had to. The station was nearly pitch black, the only light that came in was from where the train would come in, the moonlight shone in, allowing only minimal light to the naked eye.

Chelsea decided to put on a pear of headphones and listen to music, but before she could put a song on she heard a sneeze.

"Who's there?!" She called out. Toshiko stepped out from within the ticket booth, raising her hands in a sign of surrendering.

"You caught me." Toshiko sighed. "I'll go quietly."

"At least you're making this easier for me." Chelsea replied, she took aim at Toshiko and shot her in the arm, putting her to sleep. She didn't bother calling for someone to pick her up so she carried her back to her room herself.

* * *

Back in the kitchen, Cherry was still hidden in the cabinet, she heard the sound of the door opening. She looked to see who it was and saw Hester, heading into the kitchen closet.

"Psst! Hey!" Cherry whispered, opening the drawer door.

"Who's there?!" Hester hissed, raising her fists just in case.

"Don't worry, it's me, Cherry." The sudden reply caused Hester to jump back a little bit, it didnt help that she could just barely see Cherry.

"Damn it, don't scare me like that! It's had enough having Chris and that psycho Chef hunting us. Look, I'll be in the closet if you need me, so please don't need me." Hester groaned, leaving the room. Cherry was about to close the door again but Adrian hurried into the kitchen. He began looking for a place to hide.

"This room is occupied." Cherry whispered.

"Sorry. Have you seen anyone from my team come through here?" Adrian asked.

"Hester's in the closet. You better hide fast before they find us."

Adrian hurried into the closet. Hester saw the door open and the faint glow of the light let her see who came in.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I needed a place to hide and this room seemed the safest at the moment. I tried my room but that seemed obvious so I tried to sneak my way back in here." Adrian explained.

"Well there's no sense in either of us leaving now, it might blow our cover. Just... keep quiet, alright." Hester sighed, Adrian didn't answer, it was his way respecting Hester's request.

* * *

Chef climbed the stairs leading up to the roof, taking a look around he was able to easily see Shawn, who was still trying to hide. Chef lifted the boy up with the back of his shirt.

"How did you-?" Shawn began to ask.

"Night vision goggles." Chef replied, chuckling at how Shawn forgot they had them. This revelation made Shawn facepalm before he was put to sleep by one of Chef's darts. Before Chef headed back inside he looked around the manor from the roof, he was barely able to see Josh and Brian in the cemetery, with Chris already on his way there.

"One of them is behind that big oak tree and the other is behind one of the tombstones on the second row." Chef told Chris via their walkie-talkie's

"Hehe, thanks Chef!" Chris chuckled. "Did you scope out the front yard yet?"

"Nope, but I'll be heading there next. Just caught one if these kids on the roof too."

"Nice. Now where haven't we checked yet?" Chris asked.

"The library, bedrooms and bathrooms. Chelsea can take care of the girls bathroom, can you take care of the boy's, Chef?"

"Done and done!" Chef replied as he headed inside.

* * *

Just as before, Chelsea was hesitant to listen to Chris' orders but she relented and headed to the girls' bathroom. She opened the door and was met with silence, four stalls and two showers, the same went for the boy's bathroom. Nanette was hiding in the second stall, she flinched a bit when Chelsea opened the door.

Nanette closed her eyes as tightly as she could, going into a fetal position so Chelsea wouldn't see her feet from the floor.

Chelsea headed towards the fourth stall, opening it quickly in an attempt to surpriae someone if they were in there. Chelsea did this for the next stall, only to find it empty. In the seconds Nanette had to do something, she tried to roll over to the stall Chelsea just kicked open, however Chelsea was able to barely see her as she moved.

"Freeze!" Chelsea called out, pointing her dart gun at the blonde girl.

"You'll never take me!" Nanette proclaimed dashing out of the bathroom. Chelsea followed her and took a shot blindly as she didn't a chance to take aim. The dart gun hit Nanette in her bottom, causing the girl to faceplant right into the carpet.

"Well thats one way of doing things..." Chelsea sighed as she picked Nanette up to take her to her room.

* * *

Andi hurried down the hall though she stopped herself when she saw Chelsea carrying Nanette. She looked around for a place to hide but didn't see any, plus the risk of making a sound was high enough already. She felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around quickly. Strangely, she saw what looked like Clara, though she was much paler and wore much older clothes. Somehow she was also about ten feet away from Andi as well.

Andi wanted to say something but something stopped her from saying anything. She instead heard a voice with in herself that was not her own.

"Follow me." It told her.

Andi followed the apparition, which led her into the basement. The entire time Andi seemed to be in some sort of trance, the pupuls of her eyes were enlarged. The ghost led Andi to the end of the hallway and into the boiler room. Suddenly the ghost stopped, her hair went black...

Andi then snapped out if her trance, upon seeing the ghost she wanted to scream but for some reason she couldn't. The onky sound she could make was the sound of gasps of pure horror.

The ghost turned began rising in mid air and turned around to face Andi. Her face was pure white and her eyes were hollow, a deep slash ran from her left eye to her mouth. Suddenly she charged at Andi...

* * *

Andi woke up in what appeared to be a town, the roads were made of bricks and there weren't any cars either. All the people ignored her as well, Andi was about to speak to get someone's attention but she stopped when a man walked right through her.

"Unhand my future bride!"

Andi turned to see the girl who resembled Clara, she was with two young men. One of them resembled the man in the painting that was in the foyer of the manor. The three of them appeared to be around sixteen years old.

"I am not, not will I ever be your bride Henry." The girl responded sternly.

"Angela, how can you even stand to be near this... this cretin!' Henry shouted, getting the attention of some people.

"Angela, if you'd like, perhaps we should leave, I'd rather not cause a ruckus. If Henry refuses to leave then we should ignore his presence, or perhaps inform the constable." Anthony stated, wishing to not cause a scene.

"That would be best. But instead of the constable, we need to inform someone who has more control over him, his father!" Angela joked, she and Anthony left Henry to wallow in his fury.

"I WILL MARRY HER! MARK MY WORDS!" Henry shouted. "I swear Angela will be my wife, even blood will be shed, mine... or his!" Henry said his final statement in more of a hushed tone.

* * *

Andi woke up from whatever happened to her, she was in the foyer.

'Huh? Was that a dream?' She thought to herself.

"Nighty night!" Someone said. Turns out it was Chef, who shot Andi with a dart and put her right back to sleep. Chdf was already carrying Charlotte, who he had also gotten. He then heard a yawn and a bumping sound.

"Ow! Eep!" January squeaked. She tried to stretch but had apparently hit her head on the organ. Chef went over to her and took her out of her hiding spot

"Oh, just do it already!" January pouted. Granting her wish, Chef took one of the darts and pricked her with it. Chef was going to head upstairs but a noise from the kitchen took his attention.

* * *

Adrain left the kitchen closet and headed for the dining room. Cherry was busy raiding the fridge.

"Where are you go in!" Hester asked.

"Into the dining room, if I see Chef coming I'll just text you. Kinda wondering why I didn't think of this earlier though..."

"Ugh!" Hester groaned, going back into the closet. Chef bolted into the dining room, putting Adrian to sleep.

"I knew someone was in here!" Chef yelled.

"Oh crap!" Cherry screamed just before Chef put her down, he then got Hester soon afterwards.

* * *

Chef and Chelsea left the library together, they were carrying Kenji and Clara.

"Hehe, I can't believe they tried that!" Chris laughed. Chelsea chose not to answer, it was almost five in the morning, the sun would be coming up and she hadn't gotten any sleep.

"I mean their hiding spots were good in theory but Kenji's spot just left one bookcase jutting out of the wall and Clara was just out in the open!" Chris continued.

"Please shut up..." Chelsea groaned.

"Fine! I'll go check to boy's bathroom and you can check the garden!" Chris suggested, Chelsea left without saying a word, Chris made a face at her as she left. Chris looked at the time and turned the intercom system on.

"Attention everyone who's still awake, you only have ten minutes left so to make things interesting, Chef, Chelsea and I will start using Thermal Goggles along with out Night Vision ones!"

* * *

Chris headed towards the boy's room, on his way he heard a conversation from one of the bedrooms.

"I have to use the bathroom, sis!" Emma whined.

"Well, we only have ten minutes, can you hold it until then?" Felicity replied.

Chris laughed silently to himself before he kicked the door opened and put the sisters down. Emma unfortunately relieved herself on the floor once she was put to sleep.

"Hey interns, you wanna take these two to their rooms?" Chris asked, refusing to deal with the mess. He opened the door to the restroom and was taken aback by the steam, which made the Night Vision and Thermal Vision useless.

"Whoever's in here, I gotta admit that this was a smart idea. But not smart enough! Chef, I need some help here!" Chris said, calling on Chef with his walkie talkie. The alliance exited their stalls, Chris was unable to see them but he readied his gun.

"I'm here Chris!" Chef said as he stood in front of the doorway.

"On the count of three, we charge!" Kaz whispered. "One... Two... Three!"

The three boys charged at Chris and Chef. The second they heard footsteps in front of them they fired as many darts as they could, Benjamin was the onky one to make it out of the room. The hosts turned off the water and the steam soon dissipated, revealing Kaz and Edward asleep on the floor with a dart in their arm and shoulder respectively.

"We lost one!" Chris said in a panic.

"How much time left?!"

"A minute fifty!"

"Let's rock!" Chef said as he went after Ben.

* * *

Ben ran around the manor, going up any stairs and around any corner he could. Meanwhile, K arlene, the only other contestant awake, was still hiding in the flower patch, making a crown of flowers. Chelsea exited the manor and, like Chris, seemed to completely miss her. Karlene herself didn't seem to notice Chelsea though, she even hummed to herself as she made her crown.

Chris hurried to the control room, which was an office in the manor occupied by Chris, Chef, and the interns. He sat in front if a monitor with a countdown.

"One minute left!" Chris said in panic.

Ben was on climbing the stairs heading to the top floor, swerving from side to side so Chef couldn't get a good shot on him.

'50...49...48...'

Ben eventually arrived at what he thought was a dead end, he turned around and heard Chef heading closer to him. The first rays of sunshine came through the windows, showing Ben that he was close to the stairs leading up to the roof.

"Come on Chef!" Chris pleaded to himself.

'30...29...28...'

Ben rushed up the stairs, as he was halfway up to the roof he could hear Chef slamming the door to the stairway. Exhaustion was catching up with him...

Karlene finished her crown and sat up in joy at her creation, she then heard the sound of someone falling. She saw Chelsea, gently snoring by the hedge maze. Seeing her asleep reminded her that she was exhausted as well.

'15...14...13...'

Ben arrived at the roof and headed for the edge. Chef arrived almost immediately after him.

"End of the line, kid!" Chef said, he pulled the trigger. Just before the dart hit Ben, the timer ran out and a buzzer went off.

"And fhe game is over!" Chris announced. Nobody could answer, Karlene fell asleep a second affer the buzzer went off and the dart knocked Ben out cold.

"Chris, is there a winner?" Chef asked.

* * *

Hours passed by, everyone woke up properly around eleven in the morning and met up in the mess hall, everyone looked groggy and tired. They were waiting in the dining room for the results of the challenge.

"Did you actually pee when they got you?" Felicity whispered to her sister. Emma blushed in embarrassment not wanting to be reminded of that.

"So who won?" Clara asked.

Chris entered the room with the announcement.

"Well everyone, hope you had a good sleep! But after reviewing all the footage, we're proud to announce that the winner of this challenge is...! Nobody! Ben and Karlene both lasted until morning and since neither team had more members surviving the challenge you both lose! But since I'm such a nice host we will only vote off one person tonight, however, this time everyone will be making a vote. Someone from either team could be taking the ride! I'll see you tonight!" Chris announced.

Everyone left the dining room to think of who to vote for. Tension rose and the manor became quieter than usual, except for one moment...

"WHO THE HELL PISSED IN MY ROOM!" Edward shouted.

 ***confessionals***

 **Chris:** Hahaha! I can't believe that actually happened! Kinda takes me back to season one, remember when Harold peed his pants during the Awake-A-Thon? Good times!

 **Emma:** Oh, this is so embarrassing! And I know Kazuki dorms with Edward too...

 **Kaz:** This gives us a chance to pick off a member of the other team. I need to think of who to vote off though... As for the urine it wasn't on my side of the room so I don't care.

 **Edward:** I'll find out who did it and they'll pay. But at least they didn't pee on my bed... But who to vote off, a threat, or a wimp?

 **Clara:** Part of me figured Chris would pull something like that, this is gonna be rough...

 **Andi:** I'm still just really, really confused about what happened last night.

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Adrian and Andi met up in Andi's room, they were discussing the hidden passageway in the basement when Andi brought up what happened to her during the challenge.

"Perhaps that was a memory of the ghost?" Adrian pondered.

"Maybe, but why is this happening to us? What does that memory have to do with anything?"

"Should we tell some of the others?"

"I'm not sure they would believe us but it's worth a shot." Andi said, there was a knock at the door. Before anyone could answer Chris steppes inside.

"Hey Andi, can I talk to you for a sec?" He asked.

Chris brought Andi to the control room, Chris had set up the video to show Andi about to follow the ggost downstairs, however the ghost was out of the view.

"Do you know anything about this?" Chris asked as he started the clip. Andi was walking blindly through the darkness casually and with a blank look on her face. The feed began to bug out and corrupting at certain parts of the video and at times only one certain spot would corrupt. This spot would often be moving. Just as Andi opened the door to the basement the video glitched, not showing her actually entering the basement but it showed a reddish-gray blur zooming out of doorway and into the halls

"I really don't know what happened, honestly." Andi said genuinely.

"Wait for it." Chris said. About ten seconds after the blur appeared, the camera completely glitched for ten full minutes, it came back when the basement door opened again. Andi walked out ic the basement with the same blank look as earlier in the camera feed. She closed the door and then collapsed onto the floor, staying there for another seven minutes before she woke up and Chef found her and January (who had fallen asleep during the time and was awoken by Chef).

"So you really don't know what happened?" Chris asked.

"Am I in trouble?"

"Nah, I honestly don't care if people go in the basement, I'm just really confused about all of this. Anyway, you better head to the station, its time to vote someone off." Chris said, as Andi left the room Chris took out a walkie talkie and spoke to Chef. "Hey Chef, you might want to break out the holy water."

"Why?"

"Just in case."

* * *

Everyone sat in the Station with bated breath, this time anyone could go home.

"Who would've thought that both teams would be here today? Now you are allowed to vote someone from the other team off, so you can nake that choice, it could make future challenges easier. Now go ahead and cast your votes." Chris explained.

 ***confessional***

 **Edward:** Kazuki, Ben and I agreed on who to vote for and I talked to some of me teammates to vote with me. One of the Scorpions is definitely leaving.

 ***end confessional***

"Alright, this is going to he a long ceremony... First marshmallow goes to... Hester."

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"Emma."

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"Jason."

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"Karlene."

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"Ben."

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"Edward."

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"January."

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"Adrian."

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"Felicity."

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"Shawn."

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"Kenji."

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"Toshiko."

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"Clara."

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"Brian."

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"Nanette."

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"Kazuki."

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"Josh."

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"And Andi! So its all down to Charlotte and Cherry."

"What?!" "You're kidding!" The two girls said in shock.

"Why does everyone get surprised at me? I don't make these votes! Anyway the girl leaving the game is..."

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"Cherry." Chris announced, tossing Charlotte her marshmallow. Cherry pouted as she left but she gave everyone a friendly wave goodbye before she boarded the train.

"By the way have you all been searching for the two statues? They're still around here, and dont think just because Cherry got voted off doesn't mean she and the others are conpletely out of the game. But you don't need to worry your pretty little heads about that just yet, for now you can go. The Scorpions seem to be starting a bit of a losing streak, can they find a way out of it? Or are they doomed to lose? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

The train pulled up to another station, this one seemed more lively though it was still empty, Santiago was there looking for something.

"Hey!" Cherry said cheerfully, giving her friend a hug. "What are you doing?"

"I'm looking for that pass into the game, if I was cheated out of the game I deserve a second chance."

"Well I'll let you look, honestly I'm still tired after last night. If you find it though you might want to watch out, I hear that some really weird stuff is going on over there." Cherry warned before she left.

* * *

 **And scene!**

 **I might do a chapter focusing on the voted off contestants looking for the tickets back into the game. But what of the mystery lf the manor, and what is it doing to the people involved? You'll have to read on and find out.**


	8. Love and War

**Oh how life always seems to find a way to restrict me from updating...**

 **Anyway, here's chapter nine.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, a spooky nighttime challenge in a spooky manor; what more could you ask for? Well how about a hide and seek challenge with Chef, our intern Chelsea, and yours truly as the hunters. The two teams looked everywhere they could for a good hiding spot; some thinking of spots that were actually rather unique and smart. But most of them just ejded up screwing thenselves with how open they were. In the end, there was no winner! Karlene and Ben both survived until morning, leaving the two teams with just one option: vote amongst every contestant on both teams to decide who would take the dreaded ride on the Train of Shame. That someone was Cherry Ash, leaving the game a little less flirtatious. But that isn't all, there seems to be something creeping around the manor and I, as the humble host of the show, will do everything I can to figure out what it is. Can this mystery be solved? Will the alliance between Kazuki, Ben, and Edward hold up? And will Emma wet herself again? Hahaha! Oh man that was too funny. Anyway, these questions will be answered, and more, here on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

The night following Cherry's elimination proved to be rather cumbersome for a few of the teens, the change in sleep patterns made it difficult for some of them to fall asleep. One teen who managed to fall asleep just fine however was Clara, who slept peacefully. The room to her and Toshiko's room opened suddenly, yet silently. The faint silhouette of a woman entered the room, she was transparent but the white glow of her body was visible, which contrasted with the pitch black shade of her hair. A cut went down from her left eye down to her mouth; it was the same ghost that had interacted with Andi yesterday.

The woman seemed to glide over go Clara and stand over her, looking down at her with empty eye sockets, she placed a hand on Clara's head and then vanished...

Another apparition then entered the girl's room. Though this one was simply a black mass with a white face that had a wide grin on his face. Like the female apparition, its eyes were hollow. Though it didn't interact with Clara herself, it placed a red rose on the dresser next to her bed before vanishing.

* * *

Clara had been dreaming about her home and her life where she lived when her dream suddenly shifted to the point of view of a woman living in what appeared to be around the mid-to-late 1800's. The woman spoke but Clara had no control over what was said, she could only see through her eyes. There were three people she could see. A man standing with her, looking anmoyed at the other man, who was angry. What surprised Clara the most however is that she could see Andi watching them from behind, watching the event unfold. The shouting man called out to the woman she was looking at him from, Angela, her name was Angela.

"I am not, nor will I ever be your bride Henry." Angela said.

Clara felt a wave of different emotions and thoughts wash over her at the sudden sight and the statements that followed.

'Who is this dude yelling? Why is he being such a jerk to this girl? Who's the other guy here? He looks kind of like the guy in the painting. This lady's name is Angela but who is _she_? What the hell is Andi doing here? What is going on?!'

Before she was woken up she heard one last thing the man who was shouting said, if she was unsettled before, then this made it worse.

"I swear Angela will be my wife, even if blood will be shed, mine... or his!"

* * *

"Good morning." Toshiko said as Clara was suddenly awoken by Chris' morning wake up call.

"Ugh, morning." Clara groaned as she rubbed her eyes. Her mind still trying to mentally process what she saw. Was it a dream? If it was then why was it so vivid and why was Andi there?

"Looks like your secret admirer struck again!" Toshiko said with a giggle.

"Huh?" Clara asked, looking at the rose. "Whoever it is must really like that old school kind of romance."

"Any idea of who it could be?" Toshiko asked. Clara thought for a moment about every interaction she had with everyone since she arrived, realizing that the most obvious person to have sent this would have been Kenji. She thought about telling Toshiko but with Kenji being her brother she decided not too, not sure of what her reaction would be.

"Well we better head down for breakfast." Toshiko said, leaving the room. Clara followed her out, taking one last look at the rose she had just found and the one left in her room days earlier.

 ***confessional***

 **Clara:** I knew this show would be tough and maybe a little weird but the dream I just had just made the weirdness factor ten times bigger. I heard that Andi has the journal of the guy who owned this place years ago, this may sound weird but maybe that book has some answers.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Breakfast was suspiciously peaceful; Chef had prepared waffles for the teams but he was nowhere to be found, which they studied to find some sort of disgusting ingredient, when they found none a few eagerly began digging in.

As everyone ate and spoke amongst each other, Felicity seemed to be waiting for something.

"You alright?" Jason asked, noticing Felicity's anticipation.

"Yeah, I'm just waiting for Chris to come in and tell us its time for today's challenge like he's been doing every day since we got here." Felicity answered.

"I wouldn't worry too much about it to he honest. It could be another night challenge."

A heavy thumping sound coming from outside got everyone's attention, everyone checked the nearest window to check what it was and saw Chris ordering Chef and some interns to move a large pole with the Bronze Bats insignia on top. Hester opened a window and called out to them.

"McLean, what the hell is this?"

" _This_ is part of your challenge today." Chris said, the pole was put into position with a loud thud, a second sound was heard on the other side of the manor.

"Your challenge is simple; the two teams will start at the two ends of the manor. The Bats will start on this side while the Scorpions will start on the other, everyone will be armed with paintball guns loaded with paintballs for your team's color. However, both teams will also have a paintball turret gun that can unload about twenty paintballs a second." Chris began to explain.

"Are you sure it's safe to use that kind of firepower?" Felicity asked.

"Not to worry, these paintballs will sting you if they hit, no more and no less. These turrets have a firing rate fast enough to shower these totems in paint. Your challenge is to paint your opponents totem with your paint color. Meanwhile you'll have to get through each other to make sure the other team doesn't finish the challenge first."

"Seems kind of simple with the turrets." Brian noted.

"You'd think that. But you haven't seen the turrets yet." Chris pointed out the intern behind him, who was holding a mirror which reflected the image of an upstairs window where one of the turrets sat. The sheer size of the machine required at least two or three people to carry them.

"You know what else?" Chris asked. "That's the Bats' turret, and if they want to win easily, they'll have to carry that turret to the other side of the manor and vice versa for the other team. Now before we begin, I'd like to announce that the team that wins this challenge will be treated to a special reward: a dinner in the rose garden, consisting of all of your favorite foods. Should be pretty nice out tonight too!"

"Well then what are we waiting for? Let's get to it!" Kenji said eagerly.

"I don't think ive ever seen you so excited." Toshiko giggled.

"Are you kidding? I'd kill for some matcha ice cream!" Kenji said, the Scorpions hurried over to their side of the manor. The Bats huddled together to discuss their strategy.

"Ok, so does anyone have any ideas of what we can do to win today?" Shawn asked.

"We should cover every floor, that way we can fire from every angle." Clara suggested.

"That could work, but what about the turret?" Nanette asked.

"Edward and I can handle it. We'll bring it down to the ground floor so we can take it outside and hit their totem from an angle that isn't straightforward enough for the other team to expect." Kaz explained.

"So you plan to flank them?" Adrian asked.

"D-do you need any help carrying that?" Emma asked, a hint of a blush on her face.

"We can take care of it." Edward replied. "I think there are some wheels and other spare parts in the shed we can use to move it more easily."

The team then saw Chris and Chef moving tubs of applesauce and vanilla pudding that had silver food coloring in it below every window.

"What are you doing?" Karlene asked them.

"I'll explain this before the challenge officially starts." Chris replied.

* * *

The Scorpions headed to to their totem, looking around the manor which had been completely covered with tarp. Every painting, door, and even the carpet had been covered, leaving everything completely white, even the lights had been coated with a clear plastic wrapping to prevent any damage done to them.

"They're really trying to keep this place clean." Jason noted.

"I mean it kind of makes sense, this place is going to be a war zone." Andi stated

"I feel like if Cherry was here, she'd say something along the lines of 'We're not that dirty'." Brian joked, getting a laugh out of a few of his teammates.

"It really is a shame that Cherry was eliminated the way she was." Josh stated. "She was... quirky, sure. But she was pretty nice."

"I suppose that's just how this game is sometimes. Chris likes bend the rules of the game sometimes. I thought he would have had both teams vote someone off." Toshiko explained.

"So what are we going to do about this?" January asked as the team found their turret.

"I think we should keep it on this floor, that way we can aim it high, low, and center." Jason noted.

"You're gonna need some help moving that thing, I'll lend you a hand." Kenji said.

"Hey."

The teens turned and saw Chef carrying a box.

"You're gonna need these." He said, handing everyone a paintball gun. Some of them took their him eagerly but Toshiko hesitated in taking hers.

"There's pools of applesauce and vanilla pudding outside of the windows. Don't eat from 'em." Chef said before he left.

"Applesauce and vanilla pudding..." Charlotte repeated, a strange combination of disbelief, disappointment, and laughter in her voice. The intercom system then turned on.

 ***confessionals***

 **Toshiko:** I'm against using any type of firearm, even though paintball guns are not as bad as the real ones I'd still rather not use them.

 **Charlotte:** Next thing Chris'll be telling us is that Courtney is coming back again and she'll be swimming in green gelatin.

 ***end confessionals***

"Attention everyone, I'm sure Chef has informed everyone by now but just to make sure everyone knows, there are pools of applesauce and vanilla pudding laced with silver food coloring outside of every window. Knowing how competitive games like these can get, ive taken the liberty of adding those just in case someone somehow ends up falling out if a window. Additionally, there are other traps Chef and I have added to make things more interesting. Your challenge begins... Now!"

An airhorn blared through the intercom signaling the start of the challenge.

The Scorpions split up into groups, Ben and Josh stuck with Kenji and Jason to cover them and the turret but Ben quietly hid himself away from the rest of his group.

* * *

IIn the floor below them; January, Charlotte, Karlene, Nanette, Felicity, and Emma all found themselves in a paintball war amongst themselves, using any furniture or doors as cover. The girls all seemed to be enjoying themselves as the paint splattered all over them and the rooms and hallways they went through, changing the clean white interior and leaving it with splats of silver and bronze.

"Hahaha, I cant believe we've never done anything like this before! This is so much fun!" Karlene said cheerfully.

"You've really never gone paintballing before?" Emma asked.

"Nope, my daddy says doing something like that would ruin my clothes so he told me that if I was going to spend my money on anything, spend it on something that will benefit you or on something that will last. That advice is also how I started my porcelain kitty collection."

"You collect porcelain cats?"

"Oh she loves those things, please don't get her started." Nanette said with a smile, clearly joking around with her friend.

* * *

Hester and Shawn were guarding the totem, making sure to cover every possible angle. Sure enough, the Scorpions that had the turret arrived at the second floor window. The two groups noticed each other.

"Hey Hester!" Jason greeted, Hester smiled at the bot and waved.

"Sorry but we're going to have to do some interior decorating... Or exterior decorating I guess." Josh told them.

"I don't think so!" Shawn proclaimed, Hester pulled on a rope that was tied around the totem which released a trap that launched a large rock into the turret just as Kenji was about to fire it. The turret's barrel slowly expanded as the buildup of paint grew within it. This buildup caused the turret to explode, sending paint in every direction within a 10 foot radius, which included both the totem and the three Scorpions. The paintball guns that the three Scorpions were blown into pieces but they couldn't he seen from the splattered paint.

The Bats however still had their guns and aimed them at the Scorpions, who immediately ran back to their team.

* * *

Edward and Kazuki slowly headed down the hallway with their team's turret, carefully looking out for any of the other team. They turned and immediately raised their paintball guns when they heard footsteps hurrying towards them.

"Woah, take it easy!" Ben pleaded, not trying to have his alliance mates blast him with paint. The two Bats lowered their guns.

"It's a good thing we found you. We were planning on talking to you about finding a place where we can talk about a strategy in secrecy." Edward said.

"But doesn't Chris have cameras watching every inch of this place?" Ben asked.

"Not exactly. He doesn't have any cameras in the basement. We can use a room there to make our plans." Kaz explained. The three headed down to the basement, passing by a window that showed the Bats' totem with Clara and Andi firing at one another, both girls trting to gain gain the upperhand in either trying to successfully attack or defend the totem.

As the three opened the door to the basement, the light of the foyer seeped inside the stairwell leading into the basement but quickly dissipated, making everything past the light seem almost pitch black. To rectify this, Kazuki pulled out a flashlight. The three wandered until they came across the boiler room,. The room was entirely made out of bricks, a mirror hung on the wall closest to the boys and there was a buildup of boxes and furniture with a layer of dust on them.

Kaz scanned the room with his flashlight, catching a glimpse of a bald, gangly looking horror with red skin climbing out of the pile of furniture from the reflection of the mirror. Upon seeing, he looked back at the mirror and then at the pile, he saw nothing out of the ordinary...

"This is good." Edward said. "Now no wasting time, we need to know who to vote off first whichever team loses."

Kaz turned his attention to his alliance when Edward spoke, the feeling of being watched still crept over him however. He knew it couldn't be Chris or anyone in the game though...

"We're kinda at a point where whoever we pick, people are going to notice, everyone's pretty useful in these challenges."

"Then we don't have much of a choice. But I think we should come back here later, our teams might notice we're gone." Kaz noted.

"Right..." Edward replied, taking a glance at Ben. "Just in case our teams get suspicious though, we should act as though you tried to attack our totem."

"Um... Okay?" Ben answered as the three boys headed back upstairs. The apparition that Kaz saw creeped up behind them as they ascended, staying absolutely silent, it disappeared as Edward opened the door to the foyer. Kaz took one last look at the basement, the feeling he had down in the boiler room would not leave him...

* * *

Brian hurried over to the rest of his team, hearing the explosion of the turret. As he ran through the hallway, he saw Toshiko sitting by an open window, a bluebird resting on her hand.

"Uh... Toshiko?" He said, getting her attention. "We're kind of in the middle of a challnge right now." Toshiko sighed before responding.

"Yes, I know. But I just can't do it. Back home I see him violence often. Kazuki had even gone to juvie because of something involving a gun though I was never told the details. I both fear him and fear for his safety because of this and I could never even look at a gun ever since; whether it be metal or plastic."

"So what are you going to do then? Chris won't like you just sitting around like this."

"I'm well aware. So I have decided to forfeit my participation in today's challenge and I'll do it in a way I know Chris would excuse." Toshiko said, raising jer hand and releasing the bird back into the wild.

"W-what are you doing?!" Brian asked in shock as he noticed Toshiko slowly lean out of the window.

"Goodbye Brian." She said as she fell out of the second story window and into a pool of vanilla pudding below. "I'm okay... Although I would have preferred Banana Pudding."

"Well I'll uh... Catch you later I guess..." Brian said as he left.

 ***confessionals***

 **Brian:** I kind of get why Toshiko wouldn't do the challenge but I think jumping out of the window was a bit much!

 **Toshiko:** I admit, maybe the window was a bit too dramatic and dangerous but I couldn't just let Chris force me do the challenge.

 **Chris:** Ok Toshiko will get a pass from me for doing that, I honestly thought it was hilarious. But did she seriously have to drag pudding in here?!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Clara and Andi reached a stalemate, both girls had just run out of ammo for their paintball guns and weren't sure what to do next. The two aimed at each other and tried to fire but were only answered with the clicking of the triggers.

"What now?" Andi asked.

"...Wanna get lunch?"

"Sure, why not."

As the two girls headed inside they were knocked back by the twins, the best friend trio, and Charlotte still having their little war. Clara and Andi shut their eyes and ducked for cover until the noise died down.

Once the six other girls ran oit of ammo as well, Andi looked up and saw the aftermath of the battle. The bottom of the Scorpions totem was completely coated in paint of both colors along with all of the girls.

"What the hell was that?!" Clara cursed.

"That... Was awesome!" Karlene squealed.

* * *

Kenji and Jason were heading to the showers when Ben passed by them, he feigned exhaustion as though he was being chased by something.

"Where have you been?" Jason asked in suspicion.

"Yeah, we could've used your help!"

"I saw... Ed and Kaz heading to our totem and I tried to stop 'em. I had to run when they turned their turret on me." Ben replied as he tried to catch his breath.

"Aww cheap we gotta stop them!" Kenji cursed. The three boys rushed to where Ben said he saw the two Bats however arriving to their destination they saw the two boys blocking something and holding something behind their backs.

"[Kazuki, what are you doing]?" Kenji asked in his native language. Kaz just smirked sinisterly

"Now!" Edward announced, the two revealed the object they were holding to be one of the pools of applesauce. Kaz and Edward flung the pool at the three Scorpions, the contents of the pool splashed all over the hall and caused the boys to slide away. Kazuki hurried over to his team's turret and fired it at the Scorpions' totem, quickly covering it in paint.

"And that is game! The Bats have taken the victory!" Chris announced.

* * *

While everyone was cleaning up after the challenge, the alliance headed back into the boiler room. The feeling that Kaz had the last time they went down there didn't wash over him this time.

"So we've come to an agreement then?" Edward asked.

"Yes, we'll have to put in some votes for you, Ben. Just so your team won't suspect anything." Kaz added.

"As long as you guys don't put in too many votes for me." Ben replied. "But why not target someone who's a bigger threat like Andi or maybe someone weird like Toshiko."

Kaz suddenly grabbed Ben by his throat and lifted him off of the floor. Edward's eyes went wide when he saw the aggressive look on Kaz's face and the fact that Ben looked like he couldn't breathe.

"My sister may be a bit eccentric, but I won't allow you to _EVER_ insult her. Do you understand?!"

"I'm sorry." Ben croaked. Kaz released his grip on Ben, who sank to his knees as he coughed a few times and then took deep breaths.

"Remember that we're covering you this time." Kaz said as he left the two boys alone. Edward helped Ben to his feet as the two followed Kaz upstairs, he was the only one with a light source. As they went back upstairs, Ben glared at Kaz while Edward shifted his glance between the two in intruige.

* * *

Meanwhile, Emma was waiting for her sister to finish cleaning herself up so she could talk to her.

"Hey Emma!"

Emma looked to see that it was Karlene who greeted her.

"Oh hi, don't mind me, I'm just waiting for my sister, I need to talk to her about something important."

"Can I ask what it is?"

"It's sort of personal."

"Personal like a secret? Because if its a secret I won't tell anyone, I pinkie-swear! But if it's personal like a family thing then I won't ask."

Emma wondered of she should tell Marlene about her crush, Karlene was her teammate after all.

"Ok..." Emma sighed as she looked around to check if anyone else could hear her. "I sort of have a bit of a crush on Kazuki.

Karlene gasped before she spoke.

"Aww that's so cute! I won't tell anyone, I swear. I sort of have a crush on someone too." Karlene admitted, blushing at the mention of her crush. "I think Edward's super cute, and he's so mysterious!"

"And I thought only my sister had boy problems!" Felicity laughed as she exited the bathroom. "My lips are sealed so you don't need to worry. I can try helping you two but I don't want my team to get the wrong idea if I talk to two people on the opposite team. Speaking of which, I should probably start heading to the station, wish me luck!"

* * *

The Scorpions took their usual places at the station, Edward and Kaz snuck into the ticket station to tamper with the votes as the Scoprions cast them.

* **confessionals***

 **Kazuki:** Fair? Not really. But does Chris honestly care at this point. He didn't care back in Season One, when he should have.

 **Edward:** We do what we have to do.

 ***end confessionals***

"Alright, if I call your name then you're safe. For now." Chris said. "First one safe is... Brian."

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"Charlotte."

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"Andi."

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"Josh."

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"Toshiko."

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"Kenji."

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"Jason."

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"And January. Felicity, you and Ben have gotten the most amount of votes tonight and I will admit, from the looks of it, it was close. By that I mean this last will go to the person who is safe because of only one vote. The final marshmallow goes to..."

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"Ben."

"Again?!" Toshiko proclaimed. "There's no way Felicity got the most votes!"

"My sister is right! We didn't vote for her." Kenji added.

"Look guys, I appreciate you trying to help. Maybe the votes were rigged for me and for Santiago too. But instead of feeling sorry for me you should find out who rigged the votes. I'll see you guys later, okay?" Felicity said as she waved goodbye to her team and boared the Train of Shame.

"With Felicity leaving who will help Emma and Karlene with their crushes. Were the votes truly rigged and if so, who rigged them? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off.

* * *

Clara headed over to Andi's room and was surprised to see Adrian meet her there.

"What are you doing here?" Clara asked.

"I need to speak with Andromita about something important." Adrian answered.

"Oh I see." Clara smirked, chuckling a little bit but she stopped when she noticed Adrian giving her a nasty glare. "Sorry."

Andi opened the door to her room and saw the two teens.

"Uh, whats up?" She asked.

"I came to talk to you because of a dream I had. I was apparently in the 1900's or something and there were these two guys trying to fight over me or some girl I was watching them two from. I don't know it was all really weird. But the reason I'm telling you about it is because I saw you there." Clara explained.

"Really? Because during the challenge yesterday I was knocked out and I saw the scenario you described. One of the guys was yelling at another guy and a girl that looked like you. Mr. Loudmouth's name is apparently Henry and the girl that looks like is is named Angela." Andi explained.

"Hold on a minute." Adrian said. "You said this girl's name is Angela? A few days ago some sort of... ghost or whatever it could have been knocked me unconscious and said, and I quote "You're not Angela"."

"This can't be a coincidence." Clara said.

"You're right. This all has to be connected somehow, and if this ghost wants you, Clara, then you might be at risk for whatever this thing wants, if its intelligent." Andi wondered.

"Why couldn't this just be a normal game..." Clara sighed. The three heard a voice that sounded like nobody currently in the manor laugh. They followed the direction where the laugh came from, it lead them to the backyard. However the acre of land was too vast to pinpoint where the sound came from but the three teens knew that whatever it was couldn't have gone away that quickly. The night sky reminded them that they needed to get their rest. They decided to hold off on their investigation until tomorrow.

* * *

Chelsea and Chef watched over the camera feed and footage of the day. Nothing seemed out of tje ordinary until the alliance left the basement for the first time.

"Wait." Chelsea said. Chef paused the feed. "Rewind four seconds."

The video played again, this time Chef noticed something wrong as well. He paused the video and played it back at 25% normal speed.

As the three boys left the basement, a transparent, grey figure wearing a burnt suit from the 1880's.

"What is that?" Chelsea asked.

"Now I know why Chris wanted that holy water." Chef said.

The two continued watching the camera feed until the foyer's camera started to glitch until it showed footage of the room at the current moment.

"What the he'll?" Chef cursed. Suddenly the footage began to slow down, the face of the grey figure appeared on screen. Its face was burned and gangly looking, it was a sickening red color. It's jaw hung wide open and its eyes looked dead.

The figure was on screen for five full seconds before disappearing. Chelsea and Chef weren't sure what to make of the situation but Chef took out the holy water to bless himself, Chelsea, and the cameras. He then left to presumably bless the foyer as well...

* * *

 **Thank you all for your patience, amd I hope you enjoyed this chapter.**


	9. The Blind Leading the Blind

**How's school for everyone who still goes to school? Actually, maybe it's better if I don't ask... Instead, here's the next chapter.**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, a bit of a spin on the basic paintball war challenge. Instead of each other or targets in a maze, the two teams had to coat a totem of the opposite team's signature animal in paint. While most of the contestants seemed to enjoy the challenge, others seemed to have their minds on other things or just flat out refused to compete. But the challenge did go through without any major problems and the Bronze Bats took the victory! After the challenge, the Felicity agreed to try and help both her sister Emma and Karlene with their respective crushes, too bad that won't be able to happen now since Felicity was the jext to take the ride on the Train of Shame. But was she really voted off fairly? Mysteries just continue to pile up, but can they ever be solved? Find out now on Total, Drama, Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

"Chris, man, you know I don't deal with this sh*t!" Chef cursed as he splashed holy water down the stairs into the basement.

"So you and Chelsea saw some face in the camera, it could just be a glitch from when we were setting them up." Chris replied. The host took a sip of his cup of coffee and looked at his watch. Five twenty-seven in the morning, he would have to wake the teens up at six. He had woken up at five in the morning as per usual, brushed his teeth, hair, and done his makeup, such is the morning of Chris McLean. Chris knew he could he rather eccentric at times and Chef was typically his more serious co-host, but seeing his friend in such a rare state of fear was such a strange sight to him.

"Look man, I just don't deal with this stuff, you know that." Chef replied.

"I know you don't but we have a job to do and we can't do anything about it until its time to pack up and leave when the show is over. Or do you not want to get paid?"

Chef groaned a bit and thought for a moment before he relented. He silently headed over to the kitchen.

"You know where I'll be." Chef stated flatly.

"You're the man, Chef!" Chris said, he took another glance at his watch again. It would be another half-hour until he had to wake the cast up.

* * *

Clara suddenly woke up from her sleep, waking up even before Toshiko did. However, she was more disturbed at the reason why she woke up in the first place.

She saw something leaving the room, it was some sort of shadow figure. Despite being startled when she saw it, she didn't exactly feel threatened by it...

She looked at a clock that was on the room's nightstand and decides that since she was up she might as well get ready for the day.

* * *

Everyone soon woke up and went to go eat breakfast. Emma was clearly distraught about the fact that her sister was eliminated last night. Emma couldn't eat, simply twirling her spoon around the slop that she had been served for breakfast.

"Hey Emma, do you mind if I sit with you?"

Emma looked up and saw Karlene giving her a sympathetic smile.

"Oh sure." Emma replied, giving Karlene a friendly smile in return.

"I'm sorry about what happened with your sister." Karlene said.

"You don't need to be, it wasn't your fault."

"What do we do now then? About the situation we're in now I mean."

"Well, I guess we give them subtle hints about how we feel about them for now. Do you think that Nanette can give us some other advice?"

"Oh no, Nanette would probably chastise us and tell us to get our heads in the game. She's a no-nonsense type of girl." Karlene explained.

"GOOD MORNING EVERYBODY!"

Everyone turned to see Chris carrying a burlap sack and a big smile on his face.

"Is it time to risk getting traumatized again?" Hester asked.

"You betcha!" Chris replied cheerfully. "Follow me outside and I'll explain the challenge. Come on, we don't have all day."

* * *

Everyone headed to the backyard, taking immediate notice to the obstacle course that had been set up. The course itself ominously lead into the graveyard...

"Here's a challenge that I'd like to call 'Blind Man's Bluff'. Every member of your team will be blindfplded except for one. That one will be the eyes for their teammates while they complete several parts of an obstacle course. If the non-blinded team member physically helps within the challenge, their team will automatically be disqualified." Chris explained. "First is the hedge maze, the blinded team member will carry their non-blindfolded teammate on their shoulders, said teammate will guide their blind friend through the maze. Once they're out, the blindfold can come off and they can help the next blind teammate. I'll explain the other sections as you get there and Chelsea here will help us find out who will be the eyes for their team."

As Chris spoke, Chelsea walked out of the manor holding a hat that had shredded paper of the team's respective colors with the names of every active contestant on them. Chris places his hand and rumaged around the hat until he pulled out one paper of each color.

"Alright we have... Shawn and Jason. Everyone else, come and get a blindfold."

Once everyone had their blindfold put on, Chef and Chelsea guided everyone except for Adrian, Josh, Shawn and Jason to a different location...

"Alright, now that it's just you four, as I said earlier you have to guide your teammate through the maze. Careful not to get lost." Chris said.

"What? No traps or anything like that?" Josh asked.

"Nah, not this time. Now go!" Chris announced, the four boys entered the maze, Adrian getting an early lead...

"Left... Right... Keep going straight..." Shawn said, Adrian quickly turned in the stated direction as though he was a well oiled machine. Shawn was suddenly quiet for a few minutes, this silence prompted Adrian to slow down a bit.

"Which direction, Shawn?" Adrian asked.

Shawn was in some sort of trance... Before Adrian spoke, Shawn had seen some sort of misty figure walk and turn to the left corner they were approaching. Adrian spoke to him and eventually made him snap out of his trance...

"Huh?... Oh sorry, I kind of blanked out for a minute. I think we should go... left." Shawn decided, Adrian tirned left with no hesitation. It was strange, but Shawn felt as though whatever he saw was trying to guide him somewhere...

* * *

Meanwhile, Jason and Josh took their time getting through the hedge maze. The took took their time getting through the maze, with Jason having Josh stay still for a few moments so that Jason could think about which direction they should take.

"Josh, no, WAIT!"

"Adrian stop!"

Josh and Adrian crashed into each other, both unable to properly bring themselves to a halt. They were now at the gazebo that was in the center of the rose garden, an obstacle course was at the end opposite of them.

"And the challenge continues as a tie! This is interesting."

Shawn and Jason looked up and saw Chris standing above them, a sly smirk strewn on his face.

"Adrian and Josh, you two can take your blindfolds off now." Chris announced, when Adrian looked at Josh's face a slight hint of a blush colored his cheeks as he quickly averted his gaze.

"Can we start moving now?"

The four boys looked behind Chris and noticed that January and Hester were next.

"Sure!" Chris said, trying to stop himself from laughing. The two girls stepped forward and walked right into a wall.

"Chris... I hate you..." Hester sighed.

"Love you too Hess. Anyway, I'll explain the next portion of the challenge. Jason, Josh, you two will guide January through the obstacle course. Adrian, you and Shawn will do the same for Hester." Chris explained.

"Seems simple enough." Jason replied.

"Yeah, it'll be a walk in the park!" Josh joked, getting a few of the others to laugh.

"Alright, let's get moving!" Chris said, leaving the teens and heading to the next location. The four boys positioned January and Hester onto the course. Unfortunately the course was raised above the ground and looked as though it could only support the weight of two people without collapsing.

The two girls slowly approached a balance beam, up ahead was a tight rope with other ropes that had to be used as a sort of guard rail and a rock wall.

"You're coming up on a balance beam, Hess, just keep one foot ahead of the other and take your time!" Shawn said.

"Same to you January, don't rush it!" Jason added.

"One more thing I forgot to mention!" Chris announced via megaphone. "If either girl falls then they have to start over."

It took the girls a little over six minutes to get past the balance beam, with Hester in the lead.

"Tightrope up ahead, Hester. Just as before, take your time." Adrian said flatly.

"Gee, thanks for the enthusiasm." Hester replied sarcastically. As she stepped on the tightrope she could feel the air beneath her feet. How high off of the ground was she? There was definitely some sort of incline on her way there, or at least she felt as though there was. She grabbed the guardrail ropes and clung to them as though they were her life support as she slowly inched her way across.

While Hester felt as though she was fifty feet in the air, she was really only ten feet high, and there was a safety net below her just in case.

January arrived at the tightrope as well, having the same fears as Hester did, the she her fears were more visible as she looked like she was about to have a panic attack.

 ***confessionals***

 **January:** Of all the things I had to do in this challenge, it had to involve heights...

 **Hester:** Ok I admit, not knowing how high up you are and being blindfolded is terrifying but I honestly think its better than rats, I can't stand rats!

 ***end confessionals***

In the second floor of the manor, Chef and Chelsea were with some of the interns and they were holding what looked like several bean bag launchers with high powered scopes attached.

"I love this part of the job. Hehehe!" Chef laughed as he fored a bean bag right at Hester.

"What the f*ck was that?!" Hester cursed. More bean bags were fired at the two girls, who tried speeding up as much as they could to get to the other side.

One well aimed shot from Chelsea hit January in the back and caused her to lose her balance. Thabkfully for January, she managed to catch the tightrope and use her hands to move forward, reaching the other side before Hester.

"Looks like January just took the lead for her team!" Chris announced.

"Nice one January! But watch out for the-" Shawn called out, but January ran straight into her final obstacle: the rock wall. "-wall..."

January felt around the wall and grabbed a rock that was jutting out of it and began to climb. Hester reached the other side afterwards and began climbing as well. The two girls breathed a sigh of relief when they stopped hearing bean bags whizzing passed them.

The two girls kept the same pace as the climbed the wall, going down proves to be more of a challenge than going up, especially for January and her fear of heights.

Hester regained the lead as she touched the ground first, January never looked happier when she felt the ground beneath her feet.

"Now that you two are done, you can remove your blindfolds." Chris said. January looked extremely embarrassed about how scared she was while Hester glared at Chris.

"Now our next stop is the graveyard." Chris announced.

"Woah there, I have at least another sixty or seventy years on me." Josh responded.

"Relax, you wont have to do anything. In fact, you're technically done for now so you can head inside." Chris explained.

"Well, I'm getting lunch, see ya'!" Shawn said, the other boys followed suit and headed inside while the girls followed Chris to the graveyard where they saw Clara, Kazuki, Kenji, and Charlotte either trying to walk without bumping into something/each other, or sitting still to avoid the aforementioned issue.

"Still alive over here?" Chris asked.

"Chris, you have ten seconds to tell us where we are before I pound you!" Kaz growled, Chris would've felt a little threatened if Kaz was actually facing him, as the young mischief maker was talking to a tree.

"Well that answers that question." Chris remarked, the girls lead their teammates over to Chris. "Alright, the challenge is halfway over, now part 3 is a hit macabre but since this season is already rather macabre as it is, we'll just roll with it. For this part of the challenge the two blindfolded team members will carry their non-blind teammate in a casket in a race to the front of the manor where the final part of today's challenge will take place. I think it goes without saying that this race will obstacles to both the blind and the seeing. Now, January and Hester, your chariots await." Chris explained.

Chris left for the manor while January and Hester entered the caskets, once inside their teammates held it up at an angle that the girls couldbsee what was ahead of them.

"All right, everyone ready?" Chris asked via the intercom. "Go!"

Both teams rocketed out of the graveyard where they saw that the backyard had a path set out for them by Chris and Chef, once they set foot on the path, Chef and Chelsea fired more projectiles at them.

"Duck!" January called out. The three Scorpions ducked down to avoid what looked like a large cannonball that headed straight for them but they sighed in relief when January looked back and saw that it was really just a colored balloon.

"Lean left... Now right... Jump!" Hester commanded, allowing her and her teammates to avoid to bean bangs and a hurdle in quick succession.

The Bats held a solid lead for the entirety of the race, though the Scorpions came extremely close to getting ahead of them at a few key moments. Eventually they came close to the front, having to go inside the manor...

The two teams arrived at the foyer, the end of their portion of the challenge was just outside the door in front of them. They were neck and neck, Hester and January smirked at each other, but as their teammates stepped forward, they noticed that they all stopped moving.

"Uh, guys? We're in the middle of a challenge here!" January said.

"We're stuck!" Charlotte replied.

"Us too!" Clara added, struggling to lift her leg off of the rug they were all standing on. Hester and January took a good look at the rug and saw that it had been replaced with a combination of peanut butter, glue, and caramel.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me!" Hester said, slapping her forehead. The sound of footsteps all arpund them got their attention.

"What was that?!" Kenji asked, Kaz tried to keep a straight face but nerves were getting the best of him as he began to sweat. The girls looked around the room, looking at the interns as well as Chef and Chelsea who were standing on top of the staircases, looking down at the six teens.

'Sorry guys." Chelsea said blankly. "Just doing my job." Everyone pulled out paintball guns, bean bag launchers, and slingshots with tiny pebbles amd aimed them all at the teens...

"RUN!" Hester and January screamed simultaneously. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as projectiles flew all around the foyer. The bodies of the six teens were gettimg bombarded by everything. It took every ounce of energy that they had for the four blinded teens to move their legs off of the sticky mat and head for the door.

The two exited the manor at the exact same time, collapsing onto the ground with a resounding this, all six teens were battered and exhausted.

"Wow, I didn't think you guys would make it through that last part!" Chris said in awe.

"Now you're welcome to watch this last part of the challenge but you can go inside and take it easy now, you're job is done."

"Thank god, I'm taking a nap..." Hester groaned. The other teens were quick to follow, but January took a moment to look at the last part of the challenge. She could see Andi and Shawn blindfolded and holding a bow and arrows. Up above everyone; Emma, Nanette, Brian, Karlene, Edward, Toshiko, and Ben all in bamboo cages held up by large balloons. They all also had tape on their mouths to prevent them from speaking, a few of them had irate looks on their faces. Being too tired to question what was going on, January decided to head inside.

"Alright, guess the only audience is the fans back home!" Chris began. "Now, Andi and Shawn, you two will have a very simple challenge, and whichever one of you wins this will win the entire challenge for your team. Above you are some of your teammates, four of the Bats and two of the Scorpions. All you have to do is use your bow and arrow to shoot them down. Don't worry, they'll land safely, you can't see it, but we have an air mattress that will cushion their fall." Chris explained. The teens in the cages looked down and saw that Chris was indeed telling the truth.

"Your teammates will guide you in which direction you have to aim to bring them down. Now before you ask, the reason there are more Bats than Scorpions is because there are more Scorpions in the game as a whole. Now you all up there can remove your mouth tape." Chris announced. The teens took the tape off of their mouths, a few of them vocally disapproving of their role in the challenge while others were just waiting to get it over with.

"You can start... Now!"

Andi and Shawn were immediately bombarded with pleas to be released first. The number of voices giving useless information was not really helping either blind teen, leaving them to fire blindly into the air and hope they hit one of the balloons. This blind fire jearly caused arrows to hit some of the teens, which only caused them to panic. One arrow in particular went right by the side of Nanette's head, though she moved her head to the side to avoid it. Another arrow headed straight for Kenji, thankfully he ducked to dodge it.

"Woah! Be careful where you fire, these curls need precise maintenance to be this perfect!" Nanette whined, checking on her hair.

"Hey, not in the face!" Kenji added. "That's how I make my livings!"

The panic continued, slowly getting on Toshiko's nerves until she couldn't take much more.

"ENOUGH!" She shouted. "Andi, if you want to get my brother and I down from here, you need to listen to the sound of our voices and aim about an inch or so higher than that position." Toshiko explained. "I'm going to keep talking so that you can try aiming, is that alright?"

Andi aimed an arrow in the direction of Toshiko's voice and aimed it what she felt was an inch higher. She could feel her mouth drying up and a bead of sweat going down the side of her face as she aimed the arrow with her shaking hand. As she released the arrow ahe could hear a popping sound and then a crash.

"Very nice shot Andi, now try releasing my brother next so this challenge can be over." Toshiko said in relief.

Shawn quickly caught onto Andi's strategy and quickly became accustomed to it when everyone still in the air began speaking again. He quickly managed to bring down Nanette, Emma and Karlene but suddenly the two heard a clickling sound coming from the roof...

"Hope you don't mind some turbulence!" Chris said, turning on an industrial fan that blew a harsh wind at the remaining two balloons, causing them to sway and move around.

"Of course..." Kenji sighed.

Andi and Shawn tried using the same strategy though it failed to work. The two continued until they only had three arrows each.

Toshiko studied the way the wind carried the cages and how they moved, ultimately coming to a conclusion.

"Andi, the wind is moving the balloon in a circle, since the wind is strong enough to kove it then it should be more than enough to change the direction of the arrow." Toshiko explained.

"So if I fire at the right angle then the arrow will swerve into the balloon!" Andi replied.

"Precisely. On my mark, alright?"

Andi nodded, getting one of her arrows into position. She waited for a moment until the time came.

"Now!" Toshiko said, Andi's arrow whizzed up in the direction the balloon was being carried, the wind blew the arrow just barely off course.

"Close, but you missed it." Toshiko said.

"You almost had it Shawn, try again!" Brian called out.

"We don't have much time, we need to act fast." Toshiko whispered. Andi waites for Toshiko's call, when it finally came she dis not hesitate to fire the arrow, she got her last arrow ready just in case, though the sound of one of the balloons popping got her attention.

"And that's game! Shawn secures the win for the Bats!" Chris announced.

"Aww come on!" Kenji groaned, Chris turned off the fan and pricked fhe balloon with a needle on a large pole, popping the balloon and allowing Kenji to fall.

* * *

Some time later, the alliance returned to the basement to talk about their next target.

"So, gentlemen, who do you think should be the next to leave?" Edward asked. Kaz glanced at Ben, ready to do something if Ben said the name of either of his siblings. Ben pondered for a moment and thought of a worthy target.

"What about that girl, Charlotte. I don't think anybody would really miss her. Or that girl January, she's pretty useless." Ben said.

"I suppose we could split the votes in order to lower suspicions." Kaz pondered.

"No offense but your sister is getting really suspicious of these votes. She's been trying to vkte herself off like she's trying to prove the votes are rigged." Ben noted.

"That sounds like something she would do. Pay her no mind, the others except for Kenji would probably view her belief as false because of her mannerisms. Sort of like how the everyone saw Dawn back in season four." Kaz explained.

"Attention everyone, I need you all at the Station of Failure for the elimination tonight." Chris announced, the sound of his voice was muffled by the fact that there were no speakers in the basement.

"Well I guess its that time again." Ben groaned. The three boys headed back upstairs, the sound of disembodied laughter made them look further into the darkness of the basement for the source of the laughter but they were only met with silence...

* * *

Everyone sat in the station, the Scorpions had finished casting their votes.

"You Scorpions are totally sucking right now. Hehe." Chris chuckled.

"Get on with it." Jason groaned.

"Fine." Chris said as he rolled his eyes. "First two safe are Andi and Kenji."

.

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"Josh."

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"Jason."

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"And Ben. The rest of you got at least one vote tonight. Next one safe is...Toshiko."

Nanette and Karlene looked over at January, who looked back at them, the three of them all looked nervous. Charlotte looked worried to he in the bottom two. Toshiko glared at Kaz, who tried to avoid eye contact.

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to..."

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"January."

The preppy girls gave a sigh of reloef while Charlotte looked shocked, though she said goodbye to her team and left without a fight.

"No you all may je wondering why I asked the other team to come here, Hester, pack your bags because you're switching teams with Andi." Chris proclaimed. The sudden team switch came as a surprise to the girls but they didn't really seemed bothered by it.

"Well that seemed like a rather boring elimination. Anyway, can the Scorpions bounce back from this loss? Or will they end up like Team Victory? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off.

* * *

AAs everyone headed to their rooms for the night, Toshiko stopped her brother before he headed to his room.

"We nees to talk." She said seriously.

"About?" Kaz replied.

"I know you're behind these recent eliminations somehow and I intend to find out how!"

"What makes you so sure I'm to blame?"

"Because I know you Kazuki. Or at least I thought I did. You used to be such a kind person, but something inside you just seemed to change. You, Kenji, Asuka and I, we were such happy siblings for thirteen years, but suddenly you just change into this delinquent. Then for the next four years you get in trouble with the law, and now you're causing trouble here. What happened to you Kaz?!" Toshiko explained, tears welling up in her eyes.

Seeing his sister cry hurt him, but Kenji knew he couldn't tell her about his alliance.

"I promise you, Toshiko, that I didn't do anything like that." Kenji said, placing his hand on her shoulder. Toshiko sighed and walked away without saying a word.

* * *

Everyone had soon fallen asleep, the night went on without any incidents until Shawn suddenly woke up and walked out of his room. His eyes looked blank as he stared into the darkness. He made his way into the basement and walked down as though he didn't need any light to see. He eventually arrived at the empty hallway and regained control of his body, somehow the hallway was lit up slightly in a pale grey light.

Shawn tried opening some of the doors but they were all locked, except for one. He opened it and cautiously walked inside. What he saw unsettled him. It looked like the graveyard but it only had about ten graves on patches of grass, everything passed the graves was just darkness. Every grave was blank except for one that had a name on it 'Angela Mauricia Forelli-Rosewood 1847-1887'.

What disturbed Shawn the most was that there was a woman floating in front of the grave. She was pale white except for a torn blue dress, it was covered in mud and stained with blood, her hair was black and wild. As soon as Shawn looked at the woman's hair, her head snapped in his direction faster than he could react. The woman suddenly floated towards Shawn at an incredible speed, he only had one second to process what happened and in that second all he could do was look at the woman's face and see her hollow black eyes that had a cut that went down to her eye to her mouth.

Once the ghost woman touched him, everything went black. He felt nothing, he couldn't move. In the emptiness however he heard a voice. It was a woman's voice. Definitely not one he recognized.

"He's back...

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He loves me, or so he says...

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But he did this to me...

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He hurt my love as well...

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All it took was six bullets...

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And I don't even know what happened to him. What happened to Anthony?"

A rush of images soon flashed into Shawn's head, all involving the woman looking mangled, bloodies, and beaten. He couldn't understand what any of them meant, the last thing he saw was the ghost woman's face, completely red.

"I didn't mean to scare you."

She seemed to speak without moving her mouth.

"He's back. You and your friends are in danger. My love is lost in our home."

The woman disappeared, Shawn began to slowly regain consciousness and wake up...

* * *

Shawn woke up in his room in the manor, he could feel something in his lap. He turned on the lamp and saw that it was a book with a note on it. It was a journal...

'Angela Rosewood'

That was the name written on the journal and the note said only two words...

'Find him...'

Shawn didn't know what to do, exhaustion, fear and confusion took their toll on the boy and he passed out again. This time he rested peacefully.

* * *

 **And scene.**

 **Thank you all for being so patient with this chapter, school has taken up the majority of my time as my classes are much more work heavy. I just hope this chapter was still good.**


	10. A Monument to Love

**Happy Holidays readers! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Previously on Total Drama Rosewood Manor: Our two teams put their faith in their teammates and face their fears of the unknown in our version of Blind Man's Bluff. The Silver Scorpions continue to go downhill as Charlotte is the next to take the ride on the Train. But eberything is not what it seems, Toshiko seems to believe her brother Kaz is somehow rigging the votes. I mean... she's right but we'll never tell! But can the Scorpions win the challenge or will their numbers continue to drop? But that still isn't the end! This house continues to creep me and Chef out as we have footage of Shawn walking into the basement and somehow teleporting into his room over half an hour later. Thank goodness Chef is a registered priest... Can we get this issue with the house solved? Find out right here on Total. Drama. Rosewood Manor!

* * *

Shawn woke up the next morning thanks to Chris' usual shenanigans, Chef was still making breakfast so everyone had some time to themselves. He felt as though what hapoened during the night was a dream but the journal placed on the dresser was very real. He stares at it for a bit, not sure if he should open it. Shawn had placed the note that came with it right next to the journal.

'Find him...'

Shawn broke out into a bit of cold sweat as he slowly opened the book and began reading the first entry.

'October 17, 1860.

My family and I ventured into the city today, my father and uncle were discussing work involving something known as a railroad system. I found the topic to be rather confusing so I had left them to enter a local restaurant and do a bit of dining in the meantime. As I was about go enter, a young gentleman had caught my attention. We did not get a chance to speak as his father had completed his business with my father and uncle, who all appear to be working together.

My father suggested we dine at the restaurant, I had finished my food first as usual, my father always said that despite being a proper lady I had the stomach of a man! I was given permission to wait outside as they finished their meals, though I now wish I was not granted permission as Henry Gallagher approached me again. For very nearly a year he has been asking for my hand in marriage, each tine I had refused. Father and Uncle however were able to finish their meals and take me home, I have never felt more thankful for their presence. Something about Henry's presence around me makes me feel uncomfortable. I hope I can return to the town soon and meet with the boy I had seen, hopefully Henry does not intrude next time.'

Shawn flipped through a few more entries of the journal but they were simply details of Angela's home life which was rather typical for the time. The only things that caught Shawn's eye was the fact that Angela was apparently a big eater, though she was still rather thin. He was about to read the entry for October 20th 1860 but Chef announced that breakfast was ready.

 ***confessional***

 **Shawn:** This whole... thing that's haloening with this book and whatever happened to ke last night is just too weird for words. I don't think I can do this alone but would anyone believe something like this?

 ***end confessional***

* * *

The two teams sat in the dining room eating their breakfast, Chef had left the mess hall, leaving the teens to themselves.

"Everyone, there is something important I want to talk to you about." Toshiko whispered, careful not to let the other team hear her.

"Is this about your brother?" Jason asked.

"Yes. I understand if you have any doubts about his behavior but I can assure you that he is planning something." Toshiko responded.

"How can you be so sure?" January asked.

"Because he's been a delinquent for years. I don't know what sparked his change but in a game like this I know he'll strive to be something akin to the oyabun of his team." Toshiko explained.

"The what?" Josh asked.

"Think of it as something like a gang boss." Kenji explained.

"Attention teams, please meet me in the foyer immediately for today's challenge!" Chris announced.

* * *

Everyone was rounded up in the foyer, Shawn couldn't help but stare at the portrait of Angela that hung on the wall. Despite it being an inanimate object, he could almost feel the painting watching him.

"Alright, today I'm feeling generous so this challenge will be simple. Now Total Drama All-Stars was always a... controversial season, but one challenge in specifically was rather dull: the monument challenge took way too long to complete and was relatively simple. But today, we're going to re-do the challenge and make it better!" Chris explained. "You'll be building two monuments based off of world famous landmarks, the parts of each monument are scattered all over the manor and possibly the outside areas as well, this does include the graveyard. However there are no restrictions as to who can find what part for either team. This means that someone can find a part that the other team needs and can hide it if necessary. Don't get smart though, there are electronic shockers that will shock you if you hold onto a part for too long."

"So where do we build this thing?" Hester asked.

"Anywhere it'll fit. Both monuments are about as tall as I am so you can build it wherever, I'll he in the control room so I'll see everything that goes on. Also there are five pieces Your challenge begins... Now!"

The Bats scattered to find each part while the Scorpions huddled together to agree on where they should build their monument.

"Where should we build this thing, we need to decide now so we don't screw up later." Andi said.

"I say we build it here, keep things simple." Ben suggested.

"Honestly, that's not a bad idea." January responded.

"Ok, we have a plan, let's move!" Jason said prompting the team to scatter as well.

* * *

Nanette and Marlene searched the roof for any pieces but ultimately up short and found nothing.

"Ugh, nothing's here!" Karlene whined.

"We need to think about where Chris would put the pieces we need. He's crafty." Nanette stated.

The two girls sat and thought for a moment before something whispered to them.

"Downstairs."

The two girl's faces went slightly pale. The voice was one they had never heard before, definitely male. It sounded like a whisper but ut was loud enough for the girls to hear it.

Without thinking the girls ran from the roof in panic.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** Who was _that_?!

 **Nanette:** That was definitely not anyone we know, I don't believe in ghosts but there is definitely something weong happening in the manor perhaps I should... Oh... Damn heartburn...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Edward and Adrian searched the library, silent as they searched. They did eventually find the first piece they had been searching for though it was rather well hidden as it resembled an everyday object. The only reason the boys found it was because it's tecture was different than every object in the room.

The part resembled some sort of pedestal, there were even two small indentations in the center of the part where feet sould go.

"It's some sort of statue." Adrian observed.

"Question is, what statue is it? Sooner we find out what it is the sooner we can put it together." Edwars added. "I'm going to look outside."

Edwars quickly headed towards the backyard, his pace made Adrian somewhat suspicious. Why was Ed rushing? Did he have something to do or someone to see?

* * *

Meanwhile, Chef was in the kitchen, washing the dishes. He was whistling the thene song of the show to himself as the door to the storage room behind him slowly creaked open. The same red figure that was seen several times before slowly made its way out of the back room and towards Chef, it was silent and moved somewhat like a stereotypical zombie.

When it was directly behind Chef, it opened its mouth, letting its broken jaw drop. It let out a croak which Chef was unable to hear past his whistling.

When Chef finished drying off the last plate, the apparition placed its hand on Chef, causing him to collapse on the floor. In the split seconds that passed before Chef hit the floor, he saw the apparition clear as day. It looked like a badlg burned man, its skin nearly pure red as its jaw hung open. It wore a suit that looked over one hundred years old.

When Chef did hit the floor, he closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again the apparition was gone. He believed it was one of the teens messing with him and he tried to get back up but he found that he couldn't move his upper body. Chef struggled to move his arms or head but he couldn't. He felt something push his upper body down.

"CHRIS! ... CHELSEA!" He called out, but he was met with no answer. Knowing that he had to do something, he tried to move his legs and thankfully the were still functional. He tried to force himself back to his feet using his legs but that didn't work. All Chef could do was push himself around using his legs.

It took a lot of effort but Chef eventually pushed himself to the door leading into the foyer but since he couldn't use his hands to reach the doorknob, he was trapped. He then began to hear a sickening croaking noise coming from the back room where the red figure came from. The door, which had only been ajar when the figure first appeared, was now wide open. Chef would see the glowing face if the figure, its mouth now closed and a look of hate in its eyes, which reflected with the light of what looked like fire, but there were no flames in the room it stood in.

Chef began to scream as loudly as he could. The door to the dining room opened and Andi entered. The red figure vanished as the door opened.

"Chef, are you alright?!" Andi asked as she tried helping the man to his feet. She couldn't lift him but she just figured this was due to the fact that Chef was a rather large man. Chef looked back at the room, the red figure was now replaced with a white face. Chef didn't the same sense of fear and panic he got with the red figure, he was still afraid but he also felt rather sad when seeing it.

The face itself looked upset, it suddenly spead towards Chef faster than he could react and faster than Andi could see. The pressure on Chef's torso was relieved and he was able to stand again.

"Chef?" Andi said in concern.

"Yeah... Yeah I'm good. Thanks for helping me kid. Look, since you helped me I'll help you back, there's a piece of one if those monuments under the Bats' table." Chef replied.

Andi seemed confused as to why Chef helped her out since she was completely unaware if what Chef just went through. She collected the piece that Chef pointed out, it was shaped sinilarly to a dollop of whipped cream.

 ***confessionals***

 **Andi:** What was up with Chef back there? Is he feeling alright?

 **Chef:** WHAT IN THE GOOD NAME OF THE LORD WAS THAT?!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

While Andi went on to look for the next part of her team's monument, Chef went to the control room where Chris was.

"Chris! Why didn't you help me back there man?!" Chef said, still recovering from his panic.

"What are you talking about?" Chris responded in genuine confusion.

"Check the footage!" Chef said. Chris rewound the footage on the cameras of the kitchen, dining room, and kitchen storage room about five minutes. Everything proceeded as normal until the door opened. Chef finished cleaning the last plate and then the footage just... stopped. The still image of Chef standing at the sink didn't change until Andi opened the door, just as she did earlier. The storage room door was now wide open but the face wasn't there. The footage froze again but came back quickly afterwards, with the three rooms empty. The footage of Chef heading to the control room wasn't even available, as though it didn't happen.

"Ok, it definitely isn't the cameras. I just had them tested and checked this morning before we started filming this episode going on right now. If those cameras started glitching then every camera in this place is messed up." Chris stated.

"But they ain't broken." Chef said as he rewound the footage of the dining room to breakfast time, everything was normal. "See, the kids are eating."

"This house is getting weirder and weirder. On one hand I kinda like it and want to see where it goes from here. On the other hand this could potentially be extremely dangerous and psychologically damaging." Chris explained. "We can't leave either, the network is forcing us to stay for the whole season."

"Well... I guess I gotta do what I gotta do..." Chef sighed as he took out a Bible and a bottle of holy water from a drawer. He took a deep breath and headed back into the kitchen.

 ***confessional***

 **Chef:** When I saw that red thing, I felt like I was staring into the eyes of a demon.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Time passed. The Scorpions found more pieces of their monument and began to put it together as they brought more pieces. January found another piece that resembled the one Andi found in the kitchen and affixed to the monument which was now revealed to he the Taj Mahal.

With January's piece, the Scorpions now had four of the five pieces they needed. After putting on her piece, January left to go find the last one, Kazuki and Emma then both arrived in the foyer, where they had left their pieces. The two saw that the Scorpions only needed one more piece while with their two pieces, the Bats only had three.

"It's three to four, we need to hurry. Emma, I know you're a smart girl, can you put these pieces together for me?" Kaz said.

"O-oh! Um... Yeah I should be able to do that!" Emma responded, her face slowly turning bright red.

Emma's piece was a left arm which she connected to Kaz's piece which looked like a man's body, though it had no head and the right arm was still missing. As Emma put the pieces together, Kaz stealthily removed a piece of the Scorpion's monument...

"Emma, I'm going after the other pieces, I'll be back soon, alright? I'm counting on you!" Kaz said as he hurried to go hide the Scorpion's piece. Emma blushed harder at what Kaz said and she smiled to herself.

* * *

Clara cautiously looked around the graveyard for her team's monument piece. Everything was quiet until...

"Hey!"

Clara jumped but blushed in embarrassment when she saw that it was only Kenji.

"Ugh! Don't scare me like that!" She growled, pushing Kenji back lightly.

"Heh, sorry. I was just looking around here for a piece of mt team's monument, but it looks like it isnt here."

"Well at least it's you and not that guy, Ben. Something about him just doesn't feel right." Clara said, leaning back against an old, empty coffin she thought was a tree.

"Well if you don't like him very much then how do you feel about me?" Kenji asked with a bit of a smirk.

Clara blushed a little and was about to answer when the coffin she was leaning on broke, causing it to fall over and her to fall inside. Her blood ran cold when she felt a hand grope her butt, prompting her to quickly jump to her feet and look at what touched her. Kenji went forward to see what touched her. He removed the broken wooden pieces and revealed an arm of a statue. Clara cautiously took hold of it and sighed in relief when she found out it was ceramic, like her team's monument.

"Well at least you found something." Kenji said. "If it's ok with you, maybe we should go back to the manor together. Unless you want another statue piece touching your butt."

Clara rolled her eyes with a smirk, she knew he was joking but the graveyard unsettled her so she agreed to go back with Kenji.

"You said you were already in the fraveyard right before I came, right?" Clara asked.

"Yup. But like I said I didn't find anything I needed. The only thing I found was a sign." Kenji reolied.

"A sign?"

"Yup, a wooden sign in front of an old tombstone. It had the words 'Six will do...' on it."

As soon as Kenji quoted the sign, Clara had a vision. Images of the manor flashed before her eyes, though these images were when the Anthony and Angela were still alive. As she saw these images, she heard Angela's voice but she sounded much older.

"Then you'll have to go through me!"

.

.

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"Do it! Shoot me!"

.

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"Use the bullets to slay the one you say you loved!"

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.

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" _Six will do_!"

Clara was snapped back to reality by Kenji offering to hold the door into the manor for her. The two went back to their team's monuments, Clara put her piece into the monument putting her team ahead by one piece after Kaz stole a piece from the Scorpions.

"I could've sworn we had four pieces..." Kenji noted.

"Guess you miscounted." Clara said, she recognized her team's monument as the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. The only piece still missing was the head.

"Maybe you're right, I guess I have to keep looking.

* * *

Kaz was looking for a place to hide the Scorpion's piece, he was beginning to panic as he was sure someone would catch him. His fears were quelled when he did find someone, but the person he found was Ben.

"Oh, it's just you." Kaz said.

"Yeah, it's just me..." Ben replied, still unsure about Kaz after he was choked by him.

"Look, take this and if anyone asks, you just found it somewhere." Kaz said, giving Ben the piece he stole. Ben shrugged his shoulders, took the piece and walked away.

 ***confessional***

 **Kazuki:** Even if I couldn't find a good place to hide that thing, I at least stalled them long enough for the rest of my team.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

Everyone regrouped in the foyer, Ben had returned the missing piece to where it belonged, tue teams were tied at four pieces each. Josh and Marlene were the only two teens not with the others.

Josh ran towards the rest of his team as he came out of the library witht the last piece. Karlene also had the last piece her team needed as she was about to run down the stairs when she tripped and let go of head of the monument.

Time seemed to slow down as the head of the statue flew through the air. It bounced alonv the stairs, becoming deformed when it reached the bottom, looking like a familiar host. Hester grabbed the head and put it on the monument at the exact same time Josh placed the final piece onto the monument for his team.

"And we have a tie! Now for me to judge a winner, I have to see how well you built your monuments." Chris said. He saw the statue of Christ that the Bats had built but the deformations caused by Karlene dropping it made the head look nearly exactly like Chris.

"It... It's beautiful!" Chris said with a tear in his eye. "The Bats win!"

"You're kidding..." Kenji said.

"Nope! I'm keeping this by the way." Chris said as he took the statue into the control room.

* * *

The alliance regrouped in the basement, discussing who had to leave next.

"Look, Toshiko is getting suspicious about you. She has to go before she finds out about our alliance!" Ben exclaimed.

Kaz fell silent, he knew that Ben was right but to him it felt wrong to sabotage her like this.

"Fine..." He sighed.

"So we all agree then. I suppose the meeting is adjourned." Edward said.

As the three boys left the basement, they failed to notice Toshiko watching them upstairs as they left.

* * *

Andi was alone in the library, taking a seat so she could read Anthony's journal in peace.

'December 17, 1860

It has been a rather long time since I had last written in this journal, though it was mostly due to me helping Father with his work. I have been meeting with Angela whenever we both had free time. Henry occaisonally did try to harass us but he never stayed for very long. It has been nearly two full months since I had first met Angela, and it may be too early to be saying this but I wish to tell her of my feelings during the Winter Solstice. Whenever I am with her I feel some sort of warmth within my bosom, my heart feels as though it will explode! I pray that she returns my feelings.'

Andi was a bit surprised that the entry was so short conpared to the ones beforehand, but she thought it was rather cute how lovestruck Anthony was.

"Hey Andi!" A voice called out, it was January, who startled Andi with her voice as the room was so silent beforehand.

"Oh, hey Jan. What's up?" Andi replied, calming down.

"I was just going to tell you that dinner was ready but it looks like you're a bit busy here." She chuckled. "What're you reading?"

"It's the journal of the man who use to own this place... Can I tell you something? Its kind of weird though."

"Andi, my name is January, I think I can handle weird!" January responded, the girls shared a laugh before Andi became serious.

"I seriously think this house is haunted. I know ghosts are one of those things where you need really good evidence to believe they exist but with everything that's happened in this house to me, Clara, and Adrian, it really seems like there's something in this house besides us." Andi explained.

"Hmm... Well I don't know how I can help but I'll try to do what I can." January replied.

"Well I appreciate it." Andi's stomach began to growl. "Well I guess we better go get dinner."

* * *

Time passed, the Scorpions took their places at the train station for what seemed like the millionth time.

"Back again, Scorpions! I'm honestly getting concerned, I think you guys are losing members as fast as the Toxic Rats!"

"May we get on with the ceremony, please?" Toshiko asked.

"Fine. First person safe is Josh."

.

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"Andi."

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"January."

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"Jason."

.

.

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"Kenji. So were down to only Ben and Toshiko." Chris said. Toshiko gave Ben a nasty glare. Ben looked rather surprised, the way she glared at him seemed to tell him that she knew of the alliance. "The final marshmallow of the night goes to..."

.

.

.

.

.

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"Ben."

Despite being eliminated, Toshiko didn't seem upset. Kenji, however, was...

"Sister..." He said.

"[Don't be upset, it's fine. I promise.]" Toshiko said in Japanese. "You all need to keep a close eye on Ben. He's talking with Kazuki and Edward. I saw them!" Toshiko called out before Chef nudged her onto the Train of Shame.

"Time to go, kid." Chef said. The train began to ride off into the night.

"Ooh, things are getting good! Can the Bats keep up their winning streak? Is Ben screwed? What in the name of hell is going on with this manor?! Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off. As the cameras stopped rolling, Chris turned to Chef, who was heading back upstairs.

"Hey Chef, you said earlier that you were going to mow the front lawn. Hope you don't mind that I left the mower put front for you. I can mow part of the backyard for you." Chris said.

"Thanks man, I appreciate it." Chef replied.

* * *

While the Scorpions were voting, Shawn was reading the next entry of Angela's journal.

'December 21, 1860

Anthony asked me to he in a romantic relationship with him. We have only been conversing with each other for about two months but I have never felt happier. The more we spoke to each other the more I saw that he was kind, gentlemanly, intelligent, and hardworking. Even when Henry would bother us during our time together, Anthony kept as much of a level head as possible. I hope this is the beginning of something beautiful.'

As Shawn continued reading, Clara went back to her room after brushing her teeth and found something rather unsettling...

She had put the rose that appeared on her dresser days ago into a small vase. Now however it was out of the case and back onto her dresser, but what made her unsettled was the fact that it was completely burned. It didn't turn to ash, but several spots were charred black. Seeing that the rose could no longer be worth keeping and not wanting to go outside at this hour, Clara went to throw the rose away, but when she touchdd the dead plant, she had to step back in horror.

She felt a hot flash when she touched the rose and suddenly her head felt heavy... Clara then collapsed headfirst into the floor just like Chef did earlier in the day. As much as she struggled she couldn't lift her head. From the corner of her eye, she saw the same red apparition open the door and approach her.

Her blood ran cold as the red figure approached her. Another figure followed the red one, this one had a shadow-like body with a white face with hollow eyes. The shadow figure appeared to hit the red figure, distracting it long enough for Clara to regain mobility and run away. She ran into the girl's restroom, washed her face with water and looked in the mirror. Her reflection was not her... It looksd exactly like Angela, though she was fully grown and looked as she did in the paintings.

Clara was startled by the spirit of Angela but she didn't feel threatened by Angela, who spoke to Clara, her voice was calm but serious.

"He wants to hurt you. Your face resembles mine at your age. One boy among those here has my journal, find him."

Angela's spirit disappeared, leaving Clara staring at her reflection and her thoughts. After a while she reluctantly returned to her room and thankfully it was normal. The burned rose was gone. As she climbed into bed and feel asleep rather quickly.

* * *

While everyone waa asleep, the red figure appeared ine last time. This time however it appeared in front if the manor, taking hold of the lawnmower and moving it around the front lawn, not turning the machine on. It moved around the yard, eventually dropping the mower in the grass and disappearing back into the basement...

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for your patience with this chapter! Hopefully it was a good one that left you excited for what's to come. Happy new year!**


	11. Simplicity And Complications

**I apologize for the error that came out before this chapter, this is the REAL Chapter 12. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, we took a rather dull challenge from a rather controversial season and revamped it to make it a bit more interesting for our current contestants. Chef had what was probably the scare of his life after seeing... something. I wish I could tell you what exactly it was but the cameras the staff and I use and all the foptage you see was corrupted, but we will do everything in our power to find out what happened. Other than that, the challenge seemed to be normal. The Bronze Bats took the victory, forcing the Scorpions to send get another member of their team home. This time it was Toshiko, our season's quirky contestant who took the train ride home. What bizarre events will happen in the manor next? Has anyone found either of the statues yet? Did anyone who was voted off find one of the tickets to get back into the game? And most importantly, who will be the one to take the ride on the Train of Shame? Find oit on what is sure to be the most dramatic episode yet of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Clara woke up reeling after what happened last night. Now that Toshiko was gone the bedroom was much more quiet. Clara got herself ready as she as she headed down to the dining hall. The rest of the teens were chatting normally amongst their each other as they ate. Even being on different teams, most of the teens seemed to be on good terms with each other. Chef wasn't there however... Instead he was outside, struggling with the lawnmower, which Chris noticed.

"Uh... Chef, do you need some help?" Chris asked, his voice had a tone of confusion. Chef was a large man and there should be no way we would struggle with a lawnmower.

"I... I don't even man! It's like this this sunk into the ground or something, it won't budge!" Chef replied. "By the way aren't you supposed to be setting up part of the challenge?"

"Interns." Chris replied. "Besides one of the eliminated contestants found one of the tickets to get back into the game."

Just as Chris said, a black car pulled up by the road in front of the manor's gate. Chris went to open it as the passenger side door opened, allowing the teen who found the ticket to reveal themself.

"Oooh! This is gonna be interesting!"

Chef gave up with the lawnmower and left it alone.

"Guess I gotta use the push-mower." He groaned.

* * *

Back in the dining hall, Karlene and Emma were both taking glances at their respective crushes as they ate their breakfast. Karlene jumped a bit as she felt a hand on her shoulder, though she calmed down when she saw that it was just Nanette.

"Karlene, aren't you listening?" She asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Karlene replied. "What were you saying?"

Nanette turned to see what Karlene had been looking at and noticed that she had been watching Ben, who was silently eating his food.

"You know he's not on our team." Nanette stated sternly yet softly. In a bit of a panic, Karlene covered Nanette's mouth, careful not to let anyone hear them.

"Ok, fine, I admit I like Ben and I know he's on the other team but there's just something about him and his enigmatic personality that I find... enchanting..." Marlene admitted, Nanette couldn't help but sigh and smile at her friend's feelings.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** Even though being honest about my crush is a relief, I just hope Nanette doesn't being strict with me about it. Having her as a tutor is bad enough but in a situation like this, I'm not sure what she would do!

 **Nanette:** I tutor Karlene whenever she has trouble in school, but I can't control her emotions. Of course I'll have to make sure she stays focused but I can at least try helping her win Ben's affection.

 **Emma:** I heard what Nanette and Karlene were saying, and now I'm even more nervous of what could happen if everyone found out about how I feel about Kaz...

 ***end confessional***

"Attention everyone!" Chris announced as he barged into the mess hall. "I have some important announcement to make!"

"You're finally coming clean about the fact that your hair is fake and that you wear a toupée?" Hester replied.

"No!" Chris spat back at Hester's snarky comment. "I'll have you know my hair is all natural! Go on, touch it, tell me this glorious hair doesn't feel natural!" Chris flipped his hair to show off how well he maintained it.

"Nice..." Hester said sarcastically. "It's amazing what people can do with hair plugs and extensions these days!"

Hester's remark got most of the other teens to laugh, and left Chris steaming mad for a moment before he calmed himself down.

"Anyway, I wanted to announce that one contestant who was voted off this season has found one of the tickets to get back into the game!"

"What?!" "You're kidding!" "Are you serious?!"

Those were some of the responses Chris got after saying that part of his announcement.

"I'm very serious!" Chris said, he opened the door to the mess hall, keeping his eye on the teens having their breakfast. "Why don't you come in and re-introduce yourself."

The returning contestant entered the dining hall, shocking the Scorpions as David was the contestant who had returned.

"You thought I was done, didn't you?!" David hissed. "Well now I'm back, and this time I intend to win!"

"As much as I'd love to see how this pans out, we need to start today's challenge!" Chris announced. Chelsea and Chef entered the room holding two large bags as well as other objects like a map and compass.

"As a throwback to the challenge from the original Total Drama Island, your challenge is to head into the woods and camp out there for the night. Now we've pinpointed the area where the teams will be staying, both sites have a care package meant for the team that arrived first. The other team's care package will be blown up by us, hehehe! Also we've removed the McLean Invincibility Statue and the Chef Elimination Statue from their location to somewhere on the trail leading to the campsites or the campsites themselves, so be on the lookoit for them. Any questions?" Chris explained.

"Yeah, actually." David said. "Which team am I on?"

"You'll be joining the team you were on before, the Silver Scorpions!" Chris replied.

"Great..." David replied, a bit less than enthusiastically.

 ***confessionals***

 **David:** So here I am, back on the same team who'll probably vote me off first chance they get again! I'll find that McLean statue and _GUARANTEE_ that I'll beat everyone else!

 **Kenji:** Well... Looks like David's back...

 **Andi:** Alright, maybe my team and I misjudged David during the first challenge. Now that he's here we at least have another member to help us last but now I have to make sure he or anyone else on the team don't try and argue. I don't think we can afford to lose another team member...

 **Josh:** David's back... Back again...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The two teams exited through the backyard, being led by Chris over to another path heading into a part of the woods that was deeper into the wilderness than the cemetery.

"Alright, this is as far as I can take you. The path eventually splits into two, one for each team. I'll see you all in the morning, six-thirty on the dot. First team here wins." Chris explained.

"That's it?" Jason asked.

"What do you want me to say? That you'll be carrying a bomb with you or something? Look, the network wanted us to give some challenges a second try because they either didn't work so well the first time, or for nostalgia reasons. Now go on, I'll see you in the morning." Chris said as he walked away from the teens, leaving them to enter the wilderness.

* * *

The two teams diverged onto the separate paths, the change in scenery was rather comforting to the teens. They've more or less been stuck in the manor for most of the time since the show began and the silence of the woods and the sight of the sunlight gently creeping in through the trees brought a sense of calm that the manor just didn't have.

The Scorpions were the first to arrive at their camp, if was in the middle of a small clearing, a grey duffel bag was sitting right in the center with a bomb that had Chris' face on it pasted onto the side of the bag.

"Quick, get everything out of the bag!" Andi called out. The Scorpions scavenged the bag, taking out a tent that needed to be set up, a fishing pole with a bucket full of bait, some protein bars and bottles of water, and some paper plates and bowls for their food with plastic utensils.

"Nice! Josh, can you help me with this tent?" Kenji asked.

"Well, if you need me, I'm going fishing. See you in about an hour." Jason said as he grabbed the fishing pole and bucket.

"What about us?" January asked.

"We should probably go out and find berries, fish alone won't feed us." Ben proposed.

"Good idea! Boys, well be back in a bit, okay?" Andi agreed as she and the other two Scorpions began to head deeper into the woods. Everyone's attention was suddenly shifted to the sound of an explosion that was rather close to their location. The team was silent for a moment, Ben couldn't help but laugh a little bit as the smoke and dust of the explosion cleared up.

* * *

"Great, the other team is ahead of us!" Adrian groaned.

"Well we're going to have to do something to keep up. I'll try to find any wood and leaves large enough to use for shelter." Shawn replied. "We'll also need food and water too, not to mention firewood."

"I'll get firewood." Hester sighed. "Beats sitting around here doing nothing."

"Edward and I can go get fish, well be back in about an hour or so. Don't wait up." Kaz said flatly as he and his alliance mate left without anything else to say.

Feeling her heartburn acting up again, Nanette decided she had to keep an eye on the two boys somehow.

"Karlene and I can go find some berries if that'll help."

"That's such a great idea Nanette, I bet it'll be fun!" Karlene agreed with a big smile.

"Cool, I guess we'll see you in a bit. Now what else do we need?" Clara pondered aloud.

"We still need water. In sure if we get a fire going we could boil some water which should kill any bacteria in it." Brian replied.

"Perfect, is there anything else?"

"If we need a fire then I'm getting firewood." Adrian said with a straight face, Josh stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Need some help?"

"Sure." Adrian said, a smile beginning to grow on his face.

* * *

Kaz and Edward sort of lied about going to get fish. While they did plan on getting fish, their priority was finding Ben so that they could plan their next move for their alliance.

"Hey, over here!"

The two heard whispering coming from behind a tree to their left, Ben was peeking his head out, making sure nobody else was there.

"Alright, so we're all together then, we need to make our next move." Edward began.

As the boys planned, Nanette and Karlene were collecting blueberries not too far from where they were. Nanette reached for one of the berries but was surprised to see it disappear inward, leaving a small hole that allowed her to see what was on the other side.

"Oh, January, it's just you. You started me for a second." Nanette said to her friend. "I guess yoire getting fruit for your team too."

Before January could answer, Karlene suddenly brought her in for a friendly hug.

"January, hi!" The cheerful girl said excitedly. She was going to say something else but Nanette suddenly covered her mouth.

"Wait! Do you hear that?"

Both Nanette and January began to faintly hear the voices of the three boys.

"Hm? I don't hear anything." Karlene stated.

"Karlene, I think I saw a strawberry bush closer to our camp, why don't you head back to camp first and drop off what you have and then see if you can find it." Nanette said, sending her more naïve friend away.

As Karlene went, the boys were just finishing up their meeting, the girls went in closer to observe them.

"So its settled, we wait until we're back in the manor before we make our move." Kaz said as the group finally began to split up. Nanette and January silently snuck away back to their team. As Ben went he saw January pretending to pick berries, Nanette was already long gone.

"Oh hey Ben, I was just getting these berries back to the camp. I thought you were going fishing?" January said, pretending to be unaware of what she saw and heard.

Ben looked into January's eyes for a moment, as though he was trying to look into her soul.

January walked back in the direction of their camp silently, silently promising herself to keep a closer eye on the three boys.

Karlene came running back to where her friends were but she noticed they had left and now only Ben was there.

"Oh! H-hi Ben!" Karlene said, her stutter was slight, but noticeable. Ben didn't respond, simply walking away and leaving the girl alone with her thoughts.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** D-does he not like me because we're on different teams?

 **Nanette:** I knew those boys were up to something! We need to let the others know as soon aa possible, we can't let them become a threat! Aa for why I had Karlene leave, as nice of a person as she is, she can't really keep secrets too well.

 **January:** Honestly I never would have thought Ben would be in an alliance with members of the other team but now that I know, what Toshiko was warning us about makes so much sense now!

 **Ben:** That girl definitely heard us, at least now we have our next target...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Hours passed as both teams brought more supplies to their camps. The sun was setting, turning the sky into a rather beautiful combination of orange with pink clouds.

The Scorpions were cooking fish on the fire they had started as they were eating the berries that January collected. January herself was casually glaring at Ben whenever he wasn't looking.

"We've got a tent, food and water, I think we might be set!" Kenji said, thankfully that they might win the challenge.

"Yeah, maybe I won't be voted off again!" David hissed.

The rest of the Scorpions weren't sure how they should answer, the conversation now becoming incredibly awkward.

"So... Is the fish cooked yet?" Andi asked.

* * *

The Bats were making the most of what they had. A makeshift shelter was constructed using tree branches and leaves.

"This... This isn't so bad, right?" Shawn asked the rest of his team.

The Bats were beginning to eat their cooked fish and fruit, despite their situation, some of them generally seemed to be looking at the positives.

"We're eating fish and berries in the woods with a fire that probably won't last the full night after having our supplies explode in front of our faces. We couldn't be doing any better!" Hester said flatly.

"Well it beats being in that old mansion. That place is freaking creepy!" Clara said, remembering what happened to her recently.

"I agree, something is definitely wrong with that building." Adrian added.

"You've seen something strange?" Emma asked, Kazuki and Edward looked calm despite a bit of panic growing inside them.

The two teens began to describe what they had seen, though not all of their teammates believed them. The conversation about the manor continued until the sky began to darken.

"Guys, we should probably go to sleep now, it's getting late." Emma noted, yawning a bit as she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm beat. Goodnight." Adrian agreed as he went inside of the makeshift tent, the rest of the Bats following soon afterwards.

* * *

The Scorpions were going to bed as well, except for Andi, who brought Anthony's journal with him and was planning to read it a bit.

"Hey... Aren't you tired?" Kenji asked, he yawned as he went into one of the sleeping bags that was included in the supplies.

"Yeah, but I plan on doing a bit of reading before I go to sleep."

"I see, just try to make sure whatever you're using for light isn't bright enough to disturb the others. Goodnight"

With the rest of her team now asleep, Andi began to read the next entry of Anthony's journal.

'December 21, 1860

I finally asked Angela if we could begin a romantic relationship. My heart had felt it was though it was going to bury in joy when she accepted! Though as joyful as I feel, I'm almost positive that I saw Henry watching us. If he intends to do anything now that Angela and I are romantically involved with each other, it may unfortunately come to physical violence between us.

Ignoring the issue regarding Henry however, I spoke to my companions, Jonathan, Erina, William, and Malcolm about any advice they may have regarding my relationship and how it can blossom. I do hope their advice bears fruit.'

* * *

While Andi was reading the journal, Chris and Chef were upgrading the cameras around fhe manor to switch from their normal daytime and night vision settings to now include thermal imaging and infared settings.

Chelsea was in the front yard trying to pry the stuck lawnmower from the ground as the two hosts tended to the cameras.

"So what exactly happened to this thing?" Chelsea asked the two men via walkie-talkie.

"We honestly don't know. I left it out yesterday for Chef since he was going to now the lawn but this morning it was just like how it is now." Chris explained. Chelsea looked closely at the machine and found something...

"It even had the pink stuff on it?"

"...What pink stuff?"

"There's these little pink things on the lawnmower. They look kinda like mayo mixed with ketchup." Chelsea observed, she put a rubber glove on to take a sample of the strange substance but the moment she touched the slime, she seemed to enter a daze or trance similar to what happened to Emma during the second challenge of the season.

However unlike Emma's trance, everything seemed to have a red tint to it in Chelsea's point of view. Her body felt heavy as she turned her body to heas inside. Standing inside by one of the windows was a solid red figure with piercing yellow eyes. It was the same figure Chef saw during the challenge yesterday.

The white faced figure that had seemingly saved Clara yesterday appeared again to attack the red figure. However this didn't snap Chelsea out of her trance, instead, the same female spirit Shawn saw days ago appeared again, she placed her left hand on Chelsea's forehead and the next thing Chelsea saw was a white light that faded in what felt like an instant.

The red tint in her eyesight was gone, the spirits had vanished and the pink substance on the lawnmower was gone as well.

"Chelsea? You still there?" Chris asked.

"Y-yeah." Was all that Chelsea could say, she was trying to comprehend what just occured.

"Well is the mower still stuck?"

Chelsea hesitated in touching the machine again but she eventually placed her hand on the handle and was able to move it again.

"Nope, I can move it again."

"Great, now can you bring it inside?"

"Can do."

As Chelsea began dragging the mower back into the manor, she couldn't help but feel as though someone was walking alongside her, she didn't feel threatened by this person though, she actually felt as though whoever was with her was protecting her.

* * *

Hours passed, everyone was now asleep having peaceful dreams about more or less random things. Everyone except for Clara, who was seeing out of Angela's point of view again. This time she and Anthony looked about a year older. They were talking to four other teenagers, three boys and one girl. The first boy was very muscular and had neatly combed brown hair amd blue eyes. He wore a neat suit and dress shoes. Despite his brutish appearance he gave off a very gentle vibe, the other girl had her arms wrapped around his right arm.

The girl herself had blond hair and blue eyes that were as gentle as the boy's. She wore a white cloak over a blue dress with brown shoes.

The second boy was of African descent, he wore a rather tattered and old red shirt and pants, he didn't have shoes.

The third boy was wore a rather neat suit and top hat.

The six teens were talking in what was today known as the old shed behind the Rosewood manor, though it looked to be in much better condition.

"Congratulations on becoming a proper couple! Perhaps you two will be as happy as Jonathan and I are!" The girl said with a smile.

"Perhaps, Erina, but its rather difficult to be as happy of a couple as you and Jonathan are." Anthony replied, the teens all shared a laugh before the young man in the top hat became serious.

"If you don't mind me asking, guv'ner. Has Henry found out about you two?"

"William is right, what would Henry do if he knew about you two?" Jonathan added.

The mood in the shed suddenly shifted, becoming much more dark with Anthony's response.

"I thought I saw him when Angela and I became a couple. But unfortunately do couldn't completely see him to he sure."

"Knowing him, he will try to fight you about this." The African American boy said solemnly.

"Malcolm, unfortunately you're correct. But I will always be ready in case Henry wants to challenge me. So there is no reason for you to worry. I am a man of honor after all!" Anthony exclaimed. The mood lightened with Anthony's confidence.

"That confidence and sense of honor is honestly what made me fall for you." Angela said, embracing Anthony as they looked into each others eyes.

Despite Clara looking through Angela's eyes, thus looking directly at Anthony, she seemed to be seeing a little bit of Kenji in Anthony's face but she didn't know exactly why. Jonathan then noticed something outside.

"Malcolm, forgive me but eventually they will notice you are gone..."

Erina began to weep a little as she knew she and Malcolm had to leave.

"Malcolm, I must once again apologize for what my family may do, and what I may be forced to say or do." Erina cried.

"There really is no need to apologize." Malcolm replied. "Perhaps one day my family and I will be able to walk freely with your families. I want a future where I and those like me aren't judged by our skin color but by who we are as people..."

"And that day will come eventually my friend!" William said with hope. "We may not have much power individually but we are not the only people who share these beliefs! It may take months, perhaps years of planning, but I will see to it that together we flee to the Northern states and see to it that you and your family live better lives!"

As William finiahed speaking, Clara stopped seeing out of Angela's eyes and woke up...

* * *

The sun was just beginning to rise as Clara woke up, she wished she could see the sunlight through the trees but a fog had crept in overnight. With the fog being as thick as soup, it may prove difficult to go back to the manor.

"Guys, wake up, it's morning!" Clara stated. Her team slowly stirred and woke up.

"Ugh, my aching back!" Shawn groaned as he cracked his back after the rough night.

"We did what we had to do." Adrian replied as he stretched and stood up.

"Please, can we hurry back to the manor, I _need_ to take a shower." Nanette whined.

"I need to take a shower even more!" Karlene added.

"Less whining, more moving!" Hester said as she pushed the two preppy girls forward.

* * *

The Scorpions woke up a bit earlier than the Bats, but they took the time to put away everything they unpacked just in case Chris penalized them for leaving the equipment out in the wilderness.

When they finished packing, the Scorpions ran as fast as they could towards the direction they thought the manor was in, though the fog did not make things easy in the slightest.

The paths the two teams had to take were rather barren so nobody was at risk of falling and getting injured.

Chris exited the manor from the backyard with a cup of coffee as he waited for the teams. The sun started to creep through the fog, allowing everyone to see a bit more clearly.

He didn't have to wait long as both teams were heasing towards him with the Bats beating the Scorpions there by about one second.

"Well, that certainly settles things!" Chris said with a chuckle.

"You're kidding..." Andi sighed.

"Nope, the Bats made it here first by about a second or two, meaning they win the challenge. Scorpions, you're definitely this season's version of the Toxic Rats, hehehe." Chris laughed. "Alright, go shower and get ready for breakfast, we'll send someone home after breakfast is over.

 ***confessionals***

 **January:** Ok, even if my team lost this gives me the chance to tell the others about Ben and get him kicked off!

 **Andi:** Urgh, losing this much is honestly getting really frustrating!

 **Ben:** At the rate my team is going, I might not even make the merge. Aure I may he protected with the alliance, but I still want to win tjese challenges... At least now that my team lost I can get January out of the here. I know she's suspecting us!

 **Josh:** Chris called my team this season's version of the Toxic Rats, that honestly hurts but at least he didn't say Team Victory... I guess...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The Scorpions sat at their table, the difference in number between their team and the Bronze Bats was about to increase. January was telling her team about the interaction between Ben and the two boys on the other team. Ben himself was not with the Scorpions.

"So you're saying Ben is in some sort of alliance with Kaz and Edward?" Jason asked, he sounded a bit skeptical of January's claim.

"It's true! I couldn't hear everything they said but I'm sure they're behind those weird eliminations we had!" January replied.

"I believe you." Kenji said almost immediately. January was relieved to know someone had faith in her. "Kazuki is a troublemaker, this sounds like something he would do."

Meanwhile, the alliance met up in their usual spot in the basement, the three boys looked more anxious than before.

"Guys, January is getting suspicious!" Ben said, a drop of sweat dripping down his forehead.

"We have the same problem, Nanette is putting jer nose in business that it doesn't belong in." Kaz added.

"The Scorpions are voting someone off tonight. We'll make sure January goes tonight and Nanette keeps quiet. Just stay calm, if anyone asks, we don't interact with each other. Play it cool." Edward instructed.

* * *

At around nine in the morning, the Scorpions went back down to the station and took their seats, ready to cast their votes again. Tension was high and everyone's eyes were on January and Ben, the former keeping a firm glare on the latter.

 ***confessionals***

 **Ben:** She's through...

 **January:** He's so totally finished in this game!

 **David:** If they know what's good for them, they better not vote me out again!

 ***end confessionals***

"Well Scorpions..." Chris began. "It's that time again. You all need to get your act together if you want to start getting some wins. Anyway, first marshmallow goes to Josh."

.

.

.

.

.

"Kenji."

.

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"David."

.

.

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"Andi."

.

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"And Jason. Honestly it was kind of obvious that you two would be the bottom two tonight. But only one of you will get to stay. The final marshmallow goes to..."

.

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"Ben."

Ben caught his marshmallow and was greeted to the sight of January scowling at him.

"I should've figured you would cheat your way out of this! But guys, please, you have to stop Ben and his alliance! They'll go after you eventually and you know it!" January pleaded. Chef was about to grab her and force her onto the train but January scoffed at him and went by herself. From the train window, she was still glaring at Ben until the train left the station, leaving the Scorpions down another member as they headed back to their rooms.

"The Scorpions' losing streak continues, can the boys' alliance survive? Or will the others catch them red handed? If they aren't caught, who will they target next? Find out next time on another dramatic episode of Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

As Kenji was returning to his room, he looked down at the floor as he walked, lost in thought.

'Kaz, why do you habe to go and start trouble here?'

Kenji suddenly bumped into Clara, who was also lost in thought about what she was going through.

"Oh, sorry about that!" Kenji apologized as he helped Clara to her feet. "I've just been thinking about whats been going on with my brother."

A rather noticeable blush began to bloom on Kenji-s face.

"Don't worry about it. I should honestly watch where I'm going too." Clara replied, a similar blush growing onto her face.

The two weren't sure of what to say so they ended up walking away from each other...

 ***confessionals***

 **Kenji:** Argh, why didn't I say anything?! [Stupid! Stupid!]

 **Clara:** Why did I just stand there?! I could've said something!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Edward was wandering the library, looking for something to read so he would have something to do to pass time. He eventually saw Chris' autobiography on one of the shelves and was about to throw it away to spite Chris. However as soon as he took it off the shelf, he noticed something behind the spot where the book was and he smiled insidiously...

* * *

 **Thank you all so much for being so patient with this chapter. Initially it was going to be released earlier this month, but after looking it over a few times I figured the challenge I had planned would be better off saved for a future chapter.**


	12. Steel Ball Run

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, our two teams spent a night out in the woods. Before anyone asks; no, this show is not running out of challenge ideas! Another reason we had the teams do this challenge was also to get them out of the house safely for a while so that some work could be done on the house. But since there was a challenge, there had to be a winning team and a losing team and there was no bigger loser than January, who was sent home after she and Nanette discovered that Ben was in a secret alliance with Kaz and Edward, who are on the other team! On a more... strange and disturbing more, Chelsea seemes to go through something while work was done on the house, what exactly happened to her, I have no idea but can we get to the bottom of it before we have to leave this place in terror and be forced to relocate to a safer location? Will the Scorpions' losing streak continue? Will the alliance be found out and taken care of? I certainly hope that first question is solved, but as for the others you can only find out here on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

"I just can't believe she's gone! Why did they have to vote January off!"

Karlene and Nanette were discussing the events of the elimination last night.

"Well, we can't change the decision and I think there's more to her leaving than meets the eye..." Nanette replied, glancing at Kazuki and Edward.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing, its just that maybe the team voted her off because she could be a strong player during the merge, or something." Nanette lied.

"Maybe, but she can still come back, right? Just like how Andrew came back!" Karlene suggested, her mood immediately lifting.

"That would be great! Maybe she might even be put on our team if she does."

At the Scorpion's table, everyone was sitting away from Ben, after January's claims kf him cheating, they weren't taking any chances.

"Look David, I know you're probably still ticked off about what happened back then but we might need your help soon." Andi whispered

"For what exactly?"

"In case Ben really is cheating, we need your vote against him." Jason added.

"And why should I help you guys?" David asked, his brows furrowed and the look in his eyes casting a glare into his teammates that gave off an air of bitterness, anger, and suspicion.

"Because if you don't, Ben will see you for the threat you are in this game and go after you next." Andi answered, trying to get on his good side.

"January said Ben was in an alliance, and if it isn't with any of us, then it would be with someone from the other team.

The Scorpions (sans Benjamin), looked over at the Bats' table, Nanette and Karlene were now talking with Emma and Shawn, Adrian and Hester locked eyes with Josh and Jason respectively, and then there was Kazuki and Edward who were talking to each other as they are.

"Is this what Toshiko was warning us about?" Kenji asked out loud before Chris arrived.

"Good morning teams!" He announced cheerfully. "Hope you all got a good rest and ate your breakfast, because today's challenge will push you to your limits!"

"Oh do tell Chris!" Hester said sarcastically. "What challenge from the previous seasons will we be doing today?"

"I was getting to that, but before I explain the challenge I thought it would he best to even the odds a bit. No offense Scorpions, but your losing streak is almost as bad as Team Kinosewak and the Black Knights, to fix this I figured you need different team members. So, Jason and Kenji, you'll be switching over to the Bronze Bats, as for the Scorpions, Adrian and Brian will now be joining you."

 ***confessionals***

 **Andi:** This team trade does make things interesting, especially now that Kenji is on the same team as his brother, so now he can warn everyone if there is a secret alliance that Ben is involved in. Still, he's competing against hs now and Kenji plays fair, so our team has to give one hundred and ten percent if we want to start winning!

 **Kenji:** If my brother is truly behind a secret alliance with Ben and has been rigging the votes, then it's my reaponsibility to stop him! Another thing with switching teams is I'm on the same team as Clara now so... that's a good thing... unless I screw up and make myself look like an idiot.

 **Jason:** Well, since I'm on the other team with Kenji amd Hester I at least have people to talk to. But if Kaz and Ed are really part of an alliance with Ben, then I gotta take them out. Nobody's taking this S.O.B out of this game unfairly!

 **Ben:** Edward is smart enough to not let anyone find out about the alliance but we need to get that girl, Nanette, out of here A.S.A.P., she knows too much! It isn't helping that January's little outburst last night has the rest of my team keeping an eye on me, and now that Jason and Kaz's brother are on the other team, they'll probably spread the word!

 **Kazuki:** Nanette is the only one that knows of our alliance, so she needs to go. Ben told Ed and I about what January did before she left so now every member of the Scorpions is suspicious if us, including my brother. We need to cover our tracks, and to do that Edward and I may need to cut some ties...

 **Edward:** January made her team suspicious and now there's a target on Ben and a potential target on me. I need to plan my next move and pray my team doesn't lose, and if they do, I have to take action.

 **Nanette:** Now that Kazuki's brother is on my team I can tell him about the alliance! I just hope he believes me!

 **Clara:** So, um, Kenji's on my team now, I guess now we can talk to each other without anyone getting the wrong idea... N-not that I don't like Kenji or anything or that I... Just forget I said anything!

 **Hester:** Jason seems like an alright guy, I see him giving me lovestruck looks sometimes but I just don't know if it would happen.

 **Adrian:** I suppose being on the Scorpions now isn't bad, Josh is nice and we get along. I think he's great.

 **Josh:** I'm kinda glad Adrian's on my team now. I like him. Sure he doesn't talk much but he's strong and dependable!

 **Karlene:** January, you gotta find that ticket back into the game! You just gotta!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Everyone headed to the backyard, which was now containing an obstacle course. The course contained several giant boxing gloves swinging from side to side on the path the teens were meant to take, followed by a large, bowl shaped structure, large platforms they would need to jump along, a greased path, a straight path that was being shot at by rubber balls, a path with a gigantic fan blowing wind onto it, and a plain path with two large machines by its side... And two oven mitts on the path right on the path between the fan and the machines.

"Welcome to the Rosewood Relay Race!" Chris announced. "Each of you will carry your team's baton through the obstacle course and then place your teams baton on the pedestal at the end to win the challenge."

"And here I thought maybe, just maybe, it would be something original." Hester groaned.

"Hey, you try making challenge ideas geared around a singular building meant to last an entire summer!" Chris retorted.

"Anyway, unlike the relay races of past season, the order you'll be going in has been pre-determined. Josh will go up against Shawn first on the Boxing Gloves of Brutality, then Karlene will square off against Adrian in the Stomach Spinner, followed by Clara and Andi on the Platform Jumps, next is Ben against both Jason _and_ Kenji on the Grease Path, Brian versus Kaz and Emma in the Bean Bag Bullet Zone, Adrian again in the Wind Tunnel this time against Nanette and Edward, and then finally Andi again with David up against Jason and Hester in the Microwave Tunnel. Any questions?"

"Just one." Emma said. "What's the baton, I know that last season you used cherry bombs, so what is it going to be this time?"

"I don't think you understand how much I wanted someone to ask that!"

Chris's enthusiasm made the teens uncomfortable, their discomfort changed to shock and horror when Chef and Chelsea rolled their batons over to them. The fact that Chef struggled to lift it only amplified the shock.

The baton were two steel balls that were a bit smaller than the size of the chairs in the dining room.

" _These_ are the batons you'll be using, hehehe!"

* * *

All the teens took their places on the obstacle course, those who had to go twice would have to hurry over to their next location when they finished their first leg of the race. Chelsea and Chef were pushing the steel balls onto the raised platform the challenge would begin on, they looked visibly exhausted when they finally got it into place.

"Okay, if anyone needs me, I'm going to go collapse in the shower and then nap until lunch. So please, don't need me!" Chelsea hissed as she tried catching her breath.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" Chris asked, he sat away from everyone, at a distance in which he could watch everything unfold. He used his megaphone despite the fact that everyone could clearly hear him without it.

Josh and Shawn took hold of the steel balls. Once Chris pressed his air horn, the two pushed the metallic spheres with as much force as they could. The slightly raised platform allowed the ball to gain a bit of momentum and speed as it rolled forward. The two boys caught up and controlled the spheres to make aure they didn't roll off track, Josh was ahead of Shawn but only barely, however he began to slow down when he saw one of the large bocing gloves swinging straight towards him from the side.

Josh ducked behind the iron ball and braced for impact, he knew there wasn't a chance that he could avoid the thing, especially with the steel ball. However as soon as the glove made impact with the ball, it stopped and swung itself back to its original position. The sheer weight of the steel ball stopped the impact, allowing Josh to press forward, though now Shawn was in the lead.

"I knew I should've opted for those heavy-duty boxing gloves..." Chris sighed.

"At least it's slowing them down, more time for me to relax and more time to watch them get frustrated." Chef replied.

"Hm, good point."

It took the two boys about five minutes for them to reach Karlene and Adrian, though Shawn was still ahead and gave his team's steel ball to Karlene first. The girl looked up at the Stomach Spinner, he face already turning a pale green.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** I've, uh... never been to good with rides like those. I just hope nobody gets mad at me if I get sick.

 **Josh:** Holy moley, great balls of iron! ... Sorry, couldn't help myself, at least they aren't on fire, right?

 ***end confessionals***

The inside of the Stomach Spinner had two seats for the teens to spin in as well as two pillars for the steel balls to be placed on so that could be secure when the machine started spinning.

Once everyone and everything was secure, Chris activated the machine.

Cameras looking into the ride from above could only the blurred dark brown of the wooden machine, the silver of the mechanical parts, and the spinning colors of the clothes the teens had been wearing.

Karlene was closing her eyes as tightly as she could as her hair flushed out into its full length and flapping to the left side of her head as though she was a paintbrush, leaving a streak of light brown. Adrian was doing the same but he was keeping his cool.

The machine eventually stopped, Adrian and Karlene took the steel balls and exited the ride, both extremely dizzy, Karlene especially. The poor girl's face turned bright green as her hair was now wild and went down to her lower back but it was hard to tell since it went all over the place.

Adrian handed Andi the steel ball, finally succumbing to the dizziness and having to sit down and close his eyes, it didn't help though as everything still seemed to spin around him.

Karlene handed Clara the ball, collapsing to her knees immediately afterwards, her face had no discernible emotion.

"Maybe you should head inside and lie down?" Clara proposed in concern, she wanted to help her teamate but had no time to, leaving to go catch up to Andi.

Karlene slowly stood back up amd slowly headed down onto the grass, Adrian was already making his way to some bleachers the interns had set up so that the contestants who finished their leg of the challenge could watch. Karlene stood silently for a moment before running behind a tree and emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground for a solid minute and a half.

Shawn went to go help his teammate recover from her dizziness, Karlene wiped her mouth with one hand, using the other to take Shawn's hand when he offered it. Her hair was also less twisted up than when she exited the machine but it still wasn't as neat as she preferred, now looking like a sea of brown waves cascading down her back.

Karlene's skin returned to its normal peach tone, though she still looked a bit dizzy. Upon seeing her face, Shawn couldn't help but blush ever so slightly, as he had never seen Karlene with her hair like this.

"H-hey, are you feeling better?" He asked.

"A little bit, I think I need to lie down." Karlene answered, the two walked over to the bleachers, Karlene's arm strung over Shawn's shoulder for support.

 ***confessionals***

 **Shawn:** It's weird, I never really paid much attention to Karlene, I mean she's definitely helped the team when the need arose but I honestly can't explain why I'm interested in her now. I'm probably making zero sense right now...

 **Karlene:** I told you, I don't do well with any fast moving rides...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Andi was only a few jumps ahead of Clara, both girls desperately trying to keep hold of their steel ball, but the weight it brought them and the precision required to make some of the jumps they were faced with proved to be incredibly difficult.

"Any day now!" Chris taunted, a bored look on his face.

"You wanna give this a try?!" Clara snapped back at the host, jumping to the platform behind Andi.

"Don't worry ahout him, just hurry over here!" Jason pleaded.

"It's ok Clara, take yoir time with this!" Kenji added, he was blushing and his voice cracked ever so slightly. Clara couldn't help but smile back as she jumped onto the same platform as Andi. The two girls bumled into each other and began to lose their balance! In one swift motion, both girls were forced to jump at the same time onto the next portion of the obstacle course.

Their leap of faith caused them to drop the steel balls and land flat on their faces but Chris allowed the teams to proceed, as he wanted the challenge to finally move again.

Jason and Ben took the balls and went onwards but Kenji stayed behind to help Clara. As he helped her back onto her feet, the two couldn't help but notice that they were holding onto each other's hands. Upon noticing this, they quickly let go of each other.

"Sorry, I was just making sure you were okay." Kenji said.

"Yeah, I'm fine but you should probably go help Jason."

"Oh, right!" Kenji said, he slapped his forehead in frustration as he went to go help his teammate.

"You two should just get a room already..." Chris said flatly, he was responded by an angry glare by Clara, who was blushing.

* * *

Upon setting foot on the greased path, all three boys immediately began to slip, the steel ball no longer needed to be pushed to move either. After taking about five steps, Ben tripped, the ball slipped out of his hands and gliding through the grease, Ben himself fell face first into the grease and began to slide all around the path.

"If we're not careful, that could be us." Jason warned.

"Yup, either that or we tap into the unseen power of the golden ratio." Kenji agreed, Jason however, looked confused at the statement.

"What?"

"Nothing, its a joke about this manga series I read."

"Whatever. So, what do you think about being on this team now?"

"Hopefully it means we'll finally get some victories."

"I hear ya', now lets move."

The two Bats carried on with the steel ball, Ben regained control of his and was bow sliding to the end of the path, arriving to the location in which Kaz, Emma, and Brian were waiting for them.

Ben passed Brian the greased covered steel ball, to which the latter seemed hesitant to touch it.

"I'm only going to say this once, GO!" Ben demanded, Brian didn't waste a second as he ran with the grease covered thing. Kenji and Jason handed their teammates the 'baton', the two siblings looked each other in the eyes.

"Kazuki..."

"[Brother]."

 ***confessionals***

 **Emma:** I know most people here don't really get along with Kaz but I honestly hope I can talk to Kenji and ask him how to get his brother to like me, I just hope he doesn't think I'm crazy for asking something like that.

 **Kazuki:** Having my brother on my team now will most definitely be an issue, but I'm not sure I can do to him as I did to Toshiko, even if I have to...

 **Kenji:** I will be keeping an extremely close eye on Kazuki now that I'm on his team. I honestly believe January was right when she said Ben is in an alliance and if my brother is involved then I wouldn't be surprised. I expected him to be bugging Chef Hatchet ever since he got here, if he's part of an alliance, it would explain why he isn't drawing attention to himself.

 **Jason:** Yeah, if Kenji and his bro are arguing or whatever, then I think I'll just let that play out, even if Kaz is in some alliance.

 ***end confessionals***

Brian dodged any bean bag that was fired at him, or he ducked behind the steel ball for protection, forcing him to either stop moving or move much more slowly. The fact that both of the steel balls were coated in grease did not help either team.

Emma and Kaz pushed their steel ball forward, careful not to let it slip out of their hands. One of the cannons firing the bean bags sent one out towards Emma, who flinched as it sped towards her face.

She expected the sting of the bag hitting her, but as she opened her eyes she saw Kazuki, holding the bag that was about to hit her.

Emma was about to thank her teammate but more bean bags began to get shot at them. There were far too many for Kaz to simply catch, he was left with no other option but to shield Emma as she moved the ball forward.

Brian however was not so lucky to have this advantage, he could no longer afford to stop and avoid getting hit, that would just slow him down and allow the Bats to get ahead... Or rather, further ahead than they now already were.

Kaz and Brian were consistently battered by the bean bags being fired at them, under normal circunstances they probably wouldn't cause any real harm, but being fired from cannons is a different story.

The duo were just about through the path when every cannon aimed at Kaz and Emma.

"Go!" Kaz snapped, pushing Emma forward.

"But what about-"

"GO!"

Emma hesitated for a moment before she followed Kaz's order, this slight moment allowed Brian to catch up, the two teens now neck and neck as they headed to the end.

Kaz however, stood silently as he waited for the cannons to fire. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Everyone watching from the sidelines watched in anticipation until the boom was heard... Kaz was buried in a pile of bean bags, his arm poking out of the pile, he didn't move but the concern for his safety went away when they heard the beaten down boy say something.

"Ffffff*ck that hurts..."

"Yeesh, that's definitely gonna be sore in the morning!" Chris cringed.

Brian and Emma handed their team's steel balls to Adrian, Nanette, and Edward respectively.

The three teens wheeled the steel balls down the plain path forward, however the large fans immediately turned on, the increased resistance brought on by the wind pushed the three back slightly, forcing them to cling onto the steel ball before they could firmly plant their foot onto the floor and push the ball forward.

The cool winds generated by the fans solidified the grease, turning it into a sort of jelly. Nanette's neatly curled hair blew wildly in the air around her, she tried to ignore it as she pushed the ball alongside Edward, though the grease made her feel extremely uncomfortable, which her teammate noticed.

"Don't you dare even think about letting to!" Edward hissed.

"I'm not!" Nanette spat back. "And I know what you're up to!"

While the two Bats argued, Adrian was slowly succumbing to fatigue...

 ***confessional***

 **Adrian:** Well, I think after today I don't think I'll need to work out for a few days.

 ***end confessional***

"Just know that if we lose tonight, I'll make sure you leave!"

"And what evidence do you have exactly, Medusa?" Edward asked, commenting on how the harsh winds whipped Nanette's curled hair in a way that resembled the mythological figure.

Despite their arguing, Nanette and Edward reached Jason and Hester first. The two pushed the steel ball. Despite his exhaustion, Jason tried to keep up with his teammate. Adrian finally gave Andi the steel ball, which she was not happy to see, especially now that it was still coated in grease.

The three pushed forwards through the path, two long machines at their sides. The machines resembled enlarged versions of the inside of toasters. Chris pressed a button one a remote he was holding, which made several tubes on the machines begin to glow red.

"Hey, do you smell that?" Hester asked.

"I swear I put on deodorant today!"

"No, its not you... I think it might be these balls!"

Andi, who smelled the same scent Hester and Jason were, sniffed the air for a moment and confirmed that the smell was indeed coming from the steel balls. Specifically, the grease that was coating them, it made the air smell like bacon.

The heat forced Jason to remove his leather jacket, which he was reluctant to do. Hester placed her hands on the ball to push it, but the heat around them heated up the steel ball to the point where touching it was dangerous.

Andi and David put on the oven mitts one on each hand, allowing them to push the steel ball forward and ahead of the Bats. Hester put on the oven mitts for her team and began pushing as hard as she could to catch up, Jason tried to help any way he could but he thought that if he did, it would only cause him to get in the way. Thinking quickly, he took off his shirt and began using it as a sort of cover for his hands.

The two pushing together put them ahead of Andi and David for a little while, though Jason had to stop pushing, his shirt by itself wasn't going to block the heat for too long.

"Edward, what are you doing?! Get out of the way!" Hester said sternly.

"What?" Jason replied, he saw Hester looking straight forwards at nothing... At least from Jason's point of view. Hester saw Edward standing in front of the two, or at least it looked like Edward. Whoever this person was, Hester saw them as nothing but a red haze, the shape of it just looked like Edward.

This figure seemed to put Hester in some sort of trance, preventing her from simply going around it.

"She's just standing there." Kaz said, he along with the rest of his team were confused and shocked. "WHY IS SHE JUST STANDING THERE?! [WHAT IS THAT B*TCH DOING?!]"

"Woah there Kazuki, watch your mouth there, please!" Kenji warned.

In Hester's eyes, the strange figure seemed to simply vanish, her trance lifted. She could see Jason had taken the oven mitts and was pushing the steel ball to catch up to the Scorpions, who's clothes were soaked in sweat from the intense heat. Andi then collapsed from the combination of heat and exhaustion, David picked Andi up and carried her over his shoulder as he continued to push the orb as much as he could, Jason himself could take the heat no longer, collapsing as well.

Hester hurried to catch up to the two, taking one of the oven mitts as she and Jason pushed together. However their combined efforts weren't enough, the lead that Andi took during Hester's trance was enough for her to cross the finish line!

"And the Silver Scorpions win for a change!" Chris announced.

"What was that?!" Clara said in disbelief as the three that had just went through the microwave tunnel stepped off the obstacle course. Jason and Andi collapsed again and were getting help from their teammates, though they were soaked in their sweat.

"Can we get some help over here?" Chris asked, Chef and Chelsea came and poured water over the overheating teens, Jason and Andi were brought back inside on stretchers to cool down some more while Hester was kept outside.

"Why did you just stand there and hand them the victory?!" Kazuki hissed.

"Go easy on her!" Jason said, getting off the stretcher, much to everyone's shock. "She probably had some kinda hallucination from the heat or something." He sounded unsure of himself, like he felt as though he had to say it rather than wanting to.

"Well, one thing is for sure." Chris stated. "Tonight's elimination ought to he really interesting!"

The sound of a heavy crash caught everyone's attention; one of the steel balls somehow fell onto the ground directly underneath the floor of the course, as though it phased through it.

"Well." Chef sighed. "Tine to get more holy water..."

* * *

The alliance met up in the basement again, the air in the basement would sometimes feel strange to them, but this time they felt as though the room was on fire.

"Gentlemen." Edward began. "This team switch has certainly shaken up this game and our alliance is on the brink of being found out. For the time being this may be our last meeting."

"But for right now we need to decide who needs to go tonight." Kazuki noted. "Nanette knows about us and she won't hesitate to tell everyone possible if she can get proof."

"But right now that girl, Hester, is in some serious trouble for what happened earlier." Ben noted.

"Nanette needs to go down now, before she tells the others. I believe we need to take her out now." Edward remarked.

"So you two are voting for Nanette then?" Ben asked, which was responded with a nod. "Well alright then. Meeting adjourned?"

"Meeting adjourned." Edward replied.

* * *

The Bata had taken their places for the Elimination Ceremony, most eyes being on Hester.

"Well, Bronze Bats, didn't think I'd be seeing you in here again!" Chris announced. "I'm sure you remember how this works though, you may cast your votes."

* **confessionals***

 **Hester:** Okay, I still have no idea what happened back there and it might habe just cost me the money!

 **Clara:** Even if what happened to Hester was a hallucination amd might not eber happen again, I think its better not to risk it. Sorry.

 **Nanette:** I can get past Hester's issue, but Edward and his alliance need to be taken care of immediately!

 **Edward:** Nanette might be safe tonight, she might not be, but she will not be telling anyone still in this game about my alliance. But on the off chance she does, Kazuki will have to take the fall.

 **Kazuki:** Nanette is the only threat to my safety in this game. She meeds to go now, thankfully, Hester's slip up just might have guaranteed my safety.

 **Kenji:** First day on the other team and we lose. Am I bad luck?

 ***end confessionals***

"Alright, the votes have been cast and the first marshmallow of the night goes to... Clara."

.

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"Karlene."

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"Emma."

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"Jason."

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"Shawn."

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"Kazuki."

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"Kenji. So we're left with Nanette, Hester, and Edward. All three of you received at least one vote. But two of you are still safe, the next marshmallow goes to..."

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"Edward." The boy caught his marshmallow and smirked at Nanette, who began to grow worried.

"Girls, this is the last marshmallow for the night. One of you will be leaving tonight and the one leaving is..."

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"Hester." Chris said, tossing Nanette her marshmallow.

"Figures." Hester said, she silently went onto the Train of Shame and was sent off. Jason watched her go, he sighed to himself.

 ***confessional***

 **Jason:** When I met Hester I admit I caught feelings for her amd I dont want to sound like a jerk when I say this but, after today that crush just kinda... faded away. I can't like a girl who leaves a job half finished. Was it her fault? Maybe not. But even then I still didn't vote for her. I just felt bad considering it. Instead I voted for Edward, that guy just rubs me the wrong way...

 ***end confessional***

* * *

After the elimination, Shawn headed back to his room and began to read Angela's journal.

'April 3, 1870

My, it has been quite a long time since I wrote in this old thing. Anthony and I have been in our relationship for several years now and the topic of marriage has been spoken about in my circle of friends. Anthony has been much busier now as he has taken over his father's work. However I have recently been seeing him rather battered and unkempt when we meet, he tells me that even after all this time Henry continues to harrass him. I myself continue to see Henry occasionally; he is almost always drunk when I see him. I hope him drinking does not come to harm me, Anthony, or Henry himself. He may be rude, but I do fear for him.'

* * *

At around one in the morning, everyone was fast asleep and the ground floors as well as everything above was generally peaceful. In the boiler room deep within the basement though, something was wrong. There was a pile of old, burned furniture piled in the corner of the room and in the back of the pile appeared to be bald, gangly looking figure caught between the furniture, looking directly at a pipe that seemed to be shaking.

The pipe finally broke from the ceiling, coming into contact with the boiler and spewing steam inside of it, causing it to expand by about a few centimeters.

Suddenly, a mirage of flames filled up the entire room, the boiler seemed to be expanded to tens of times it's size, some of it coming apart and the machine itself on the berge of exploding catastrophically. The gangly figure was trapped behind the now burning furniture.

"Angela..." It croaked out before fading into the darkness as the mirage faded, leaving the room as it had been before... Except for the boiler, which still had steam being blown into it...

* * *

 **Forgive me for the late chapter, personal issues. As for the end scene, I'm not an expert when it comes to machines like boilers or furnaces but those of you who are may know what might happen if the issue going on with this one is left unchecked.**

 **Until then... Stay tuned.**


	13. Something From The Oven

"Last time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor, the relay race, a classic competition between two teams that has been around for generations, usually done using a baton or another object as something that is needed to pass onto the rest of the team involved in the race. Since it is such a classic challenge, we decided to use it this season, with a steel ball as the baton, while also having our contestants drag said steel balls through an obstacle course that tested their mental mettle as well as their stamina and patience. One contestant who couldn't seem to handle the pressure was Hester, who was then voted out by the rest of her team and giving the Bronze Bats their first loss in a while. Can the Silver Scorpions start a winning streak, or was their victory just a fluke? Find out now on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Six will do.

Those were the words that, for some reason she couldn't understand, were etched into Clara's mind and wouldn't get out no matter what. But she didn't even know what the number six was referring to. Six people? Six keys?... Six eggs?

Eggs. The eggs she and the other teens were having for breakfast that morning wdre disgusting but so was everything else Ched cooked for them.

"Clara, are you ok?"

Clara looked up to see Kenji and Karlene, the former looked concerned while the latter had an expression of confusion, though this wasn't necessarily directed at her so much as it was at the plate of eggs in front of her.

For some reason Clara had arranged her six sunny side up eggs in a circle, she wasnt sure why but the formation of the circle itself felt ominous to Clara, out of the corner of her eye she could see a shadow figure resembling Angela in her more ghostly appearance.

The second Clara looked up though, it disappeared.

"I'm fine, I just can't stand the taste of these eggs." Clara responded, she was telling the truth but Kenji could tell she had something on her mind. He gently placed his hand on here's and looked into her eyes.

"Hey, if something's wrong you can tell me, I mean we're friends, right?"

Clara smiled at him, her anxiety fading away.

"Of course!"

The two suddenly blushed as they realized their hands were touching, quickly recoiling away from each other as they resumed eating.

Karlene giggled to herself at the cute moment she just witnessed between her teammates before turning to take a glance at the boy she had a crush on; Ben. The boy she knew she could never talk to without someone getting suspicious. Especially with Nanette most likely disapproving since he was on the other team.

As Karlene swooned, Nanette glared at Edward and Kazuki, who ate their breakfast casually but talked amongst themselves in a hushed tone, glancing at the rich girl occasionally. Though their attention was more focused on Nanette, Kaz failed to notice another girl who had her eyes on him.

Emma, tried getting the courage to talk to Kaz but she could never seem to really go through with it. Though she was able to talk to Shawn and Jason about her dilemma, believing that if she wanted to get a boy's attention, it would be best to talk the other boys on her team that wouldn't make things awkward or difficult.

She couldn't talk to his brother Kenji, seeing as how he thought of Kaz as a negative influence and Edward was rather intimidating, plus he didn't seem like much of a talker anyway.

"I honestly don't know if Ed is as bad as his siblings make him out to be but he definitely ain't a nice guy." Jason stated.

"I think you should wait a while. We've been here for a little over two weeks already but I honestly see Kaz as a but of a wild card. We don't know what he's up to or what he's thinking." Shawn added.

That didn't really help Emma's situation. She looked back at Kazuki, she silently cursed the weather. It has rained the previous night and the morning sky had been cloudy but was clearing up just enough for the early morning sunlight to shine through the window behind Kazuki giving him a look that was a strange combination of elegant yet also rough.

She quickly looked away before he noticed.

 ***confessionals***

 **Emma:** Ugh, I want to tell him how I feel but whenever I look at him I just can't go through with it!

 **Jason:** Ever since what happened in the laat challenge, I've decided to put one hundred and ten percent into winning this game! I don't intend to lose, but if I get eliminated I'll find that ticket and come right back! Mark my words!

 **Shawn:** I feel like most of my team has something on their mind or something that's taking up their attention, Emma likes Kaz, who only really talks to Edward. Then there's Nanette who looks like she has some sort of grudge against those two for some reason. Kenji and Clara are definitely crushing on each other but probably can't admit it yet. Then there's me trying to figure out the deal with the journal and it's like it'll lead to something big, even though it'll probably be a huge anticlimax. Its like Karlene and Jason are the only members of the team who aren't really being sidetracked by anything, at least to my knowledge.

 **Karlene:** What am I going to do? Usually when I have a problem I go to Nanette or January for help. But January isn't here right now and Nanette is part of the reason why I'm so nervous! I need to think but thinking for too long might just make me more nervous!

 **Clara:** The longer I'm here the weirder things get. I know the whole haunted house thing is really cheesy but there's no explanation for some of the things that go on here. Last night I woke up to the sound of a baby crying and I know for a fact that there aren't any babies in this place. At least I have Kenji and the rest if the friends I've made here to help me stay sane.

 **Kenji:** I hope Clara's ok, maybe everything that's been happening in the game is getting to her.

 **Kazuki:** The others are getting suspicious, at this rate they'll find out about the alliance. If worst comes to worst Ed and I have decided to pin it all on Ben. He is the weakest link oit if the three of us.

 **Edward:** Our plan is the same: Nanette goes down first. If the others find out about the alliance then I cut my ties with them. I told Kazuki that we pin it all on Ben by saying he was the weak link. In truth I see Kazuki as a loose cannon, prone to aggression at the slightest provocation whenever we mention his siblings or family in a negative light. I was hoping to meet with the two boys in the basement earlier but its uncomfortably warm down there for some reason.

 ***end confessionals***

The Scorpions all talked amongst each other, aside from Ben, who sat alone.

"Feels good to win." David said pridefully before gagging at the egg he had for breakfast.

"Don't get too confident, the other team could pull something." Andi stated.

"You know you could've just jinxed us, right?" Brian asked. "I'm kidding... sort of."

"No, no, I know what you mean. I don't mean to sound so negative, it's just that with the possibility that there's a secret alliance that's rigging the votes is pretty much forcing us to put everything we have into winning these challenges."

"She's right, we should keep pushing forward while we have the momentum." Adrian said, no longer wishing to eat his food after watching David's reaction.

Ben did his best to listen in to the conversation and managed to hear most of it.

 ***confessional***

 **Ben:** As much as I want the others gone as quickly as possible, it's for the best that my team keeps winning. The more we win, the longer I stay here without worrying about getting the boot. Plus there's the chance that Kaz gets voted off too. Sooner that happens the sooner I can talk to Ed about our alliance without having to worry about being beaten up by some future criminal!

 ***end confessional***

"Morning!" Chris announced as he strode into the dining room. Chelsea walked behind him, she looked exhausted and had a hammer in her hand. The teens were silent as they watched Chelsea sat down at table for a moment before her head slammed into the table. The next thing they heard was her softly snoring.

"I was hoping for a 'good morning' back, but oh well. Anyway, its time for today's challenge amd this one might just take all day long!"

"Well its not like we'd be doing anything else today." Jason sighed.

"So what's the challenge?" David asked.

"Similarly to the cooking challenge in the original Total Drama Island, you'll all be cooking a three course meal. However unlike last time, I won't be judging your meals, instead Chef will be taking over that position and he's much less forgiving than I am."

"Alright, let's do this then, where do we start?" Clara asked, ready to start cooking.

"That's another thing." Chris chuckled. "The ingredients you'll be needing to make your meals won't be delivered to you this time. Follow me."

* * *

Chris lead the teams to the front gates, there were two large wagons on the road.

"During the cooking challenge back in the first season, the food and ingredients that the contestants used back then were delivered to Camp Wawanakwa, this time however, two members of each team will go and pick up everything you'll be using from a market in the nearby town. You'll have two minutes to decide what kind of meal you want to prepare and then another minute to decide who's picking up the ingredients. Starting now." Chris explained.

The two teams huddled up immediately, Kenji and Nanette immediately brought up ideas for Japanese and French styled meals respectively. Kenji insisted they go with the Japanese meal but Nanette wouldn't budge. Kazuki and Edward simply watched the argument unfold. Clara, Emma, Jason, and Shawn simply stood and watched the two, and Karlene couldn't decide which idea she liked more.

"Enough!" Nanette said sternly, stomping her foot for good measure. "We are making authentic French cuisine and that is final! [I understand that you are passionate about your home country, but I am not about to squander the opportunity of finally being able to use my culinary skills in this game!"

Her last statement surprised the rest of her team as it was stated in French, a language nobody immediately understood. Nanette sighed before soeaking again.

"I'm sorry, I just get worked up easily about things I'm passionate about and I start speaking in French indiscriminately because of that. I get that you wanted to make a meal based on your home country because you take pride in where you come from but so do I, and I've done things just like this back home. So this is something I feel like I was born to do."

"Well when you put it that way, I guess there's no way I can say no." Kenji relented, offering Nanette a handshake, which she accepted. "You're wrong about ine thing though; I didn't want to make a Japanese meal because I'm passionate about my heritage. I wanted to do it because my sister is. I just miss her being here, as quirky as she is."

"Awww!" The girls all squeed.

Kazuki turned away from his team so that none of them could see his face. When they saw this, Kenji sighed.

"Look bro, I know you're not into this sappy crap, but-"

"Whatever, let's just get this over with." Kaz replied. He wiped at his face in a way so that his teammates wouldn't notice, but Emma managed to see sunlight reflecting off of the hand he just used to wipe his face, and there was no way he was showing signs of being sick either, it was too warm and he would have been showing signs earlier.

Meanwhile, the Scorpions didn't have very many quick ideas like the Bats did. They just haphazardly threw around ideas until one would sound better than the others. At least that was their plan at the moment.

"Time's up for thinking of ideas! You have a minute to decide who's picking up the stuff." Chef announced.

"Alright." Andi sighed. "David, can you help me get everything we can get from the town? I'm going to need a pair of strong hands to help."

"Sure, why not." David replied, heading towards the cart.

"Can the rest if you head to the library and see if you could possibly find a cookbook or something that could possibly help us?" Andi asked.

"We'll keep an eye out." Adrian responded.

"Alright, those heading into town, time to shove off!" Chris announced.

Andi, David, Clara, and Shawn headed to the wagon. The vehicles themselves required one of the two members of the team to push it forward via a handlebar attached to the wagon'a cart. It was similar to what they put in horses but smaller and meant to be grabbed by hand. The other member would sit on a wooden bench on top of the wagon and read a map Chris had given then for directions.

David went to go push his team's cart while Shawn pushed for the Bats. With a blow of his air horn, Chris began the challenge. The four teens left the manor grounds while their teammates headed inside.

* * *

The Scorpions heeded Andi's request and looked for anything useful in the library.

Adrian reached out for a book he thought could have been a cookbook, its spine was rather worn out and the words on it were illegible. However the moment he was about to reach the book, he felt someone call for him.

It wasn't exactly a voice but more of some sort of spiritual sensation pulling him towards a different book. As Adrian took the book and looked into its contents he saw that it definitely wasn't the book he needed at the moment but one that most certainly interested him; it was a book containing several newspaper stories spanning from 1860 to 1889.

Adrian skimmed through some of the newspaper stories, most were focused on the invention of the Transcontinental Railroad System that was built during the time as well as several other creations and inventions. But the most striking thing that caught Adrian's attention was how much the Rosewood family was involved as their name was mentioned at leadt one time in ever story.

There was even a news story dedicated to Anthony Rosewood inheriting his father's businesses and his family's legacy. At least that's how the story described it. The yellow color of the pages and the smell of old paper made Adrian feel as though there was someone beside him, looking at the pictures alongside him.

This feeling quickly turned into shock when Adrian felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see who the hand belonged to and saw a man. A man that he recognised to he Anthony Rosewood himself.

The man looked just as he did in the painting... At least for a moment.

His appearance shifted before Adrian could even blink. His brown eyes turned into dark, empty eye sockets, his charming smile turned into a disturbingly wide grin, as though he was laughing, and his left eye had a large gash that cut down into his cheek.

Just as Adrian saw this shift in appearance, the apparition vanished, as if it was never there.

"Hey, Adrian!"

Adrian snapped out of his daze at the sound of his teammates calling for him. Despite being the only ones there they still kept their voices down.

"We found some cookbooks, let's hurry and see if Andi and David came back." Josh said.

 ***confessional***

 **Adrian:** This could provide a few answers with what's going on, but I'll have to wait until the challenge is over to talk with Andromita about it.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

The four teens picking up the produce arrived in town, with the Bats arriving first. The town looked rather typical, especially given the current year, though the carts the teens were using looked rather dated.

Despite this however, the four of them didn't care, they were too busy enjoying the fact that they finally had a change of scenery. Andi unfortunately couldn't soak in this change for very long, as her attention was grabbed by a presence she felt beside her.

She turned her head and saw the spirit of Angela again. Just like with what happebed to Adrian, the moment she saw the spirit, it morphed into a more disturbing form. Her eyes were gone, her hair went from a soft brown to a disturbing black and blood oozed from her mouth amd the cut in her face. Her dress was also stained with blood as well, as if she had wounds all over her. It was only for a very faint moment, but Andi could see six spots where the blood was coming from on the spirit's body.

As soon as she appeared however, she vanished. But it didn't end there; Andi then seemed to have visions of what Angela may have gone through to get those injuries... Though she didn't see any if it, she could only hear what was happening.

 _"Go on then! Use your gun! Shoot the woman you said you loved so dearly! Use your bullets to show how you have truly felt all these years! Six will do!"_

Questions buzzed all around in Andi's mind, what just happened? What did that mean? Who was-

"Hey, we're here!" David called out. "Let's get what we need and hurry back."

Andi snapped out of her daze, seeing Shawn and Clara already heading back to the manor, Clara stuck her tongue out at Andi, playfully teasing her about being in the lead.

The two Scorpions got whatever they figured they could be able to use from the market. David was busy putting a few frozen chicken into the wagon while Andi wandered off alone...

* * *

A little while later, Clara and Shawn returned to the manor, the Bats all headed to the kitchen, eager to strike while the metaphorical iron was hot and widen their lead against the Scorpions.

"Not so fast!" Chris announced, stopping the Bats right in their tracks. "I never said this was a race. You can start once the Scorpions are ready.

"Are you serious?!" Kazuki asked in anger.

"Dead serious. Now just sit tight until Andromita and David come back." Chris said, leaving the room and leaving Chelsea to watch over them to make sure they wouldn't cheat, it didn't matter if Chelsea let them cheat though, Chris was watching regardless, Chelsea was more or less meant to intimidate them.

"You hungry?" Chris asked, he and Chef were in the control room, which was essentially just an office in the manner they were using. Chef was busy making a house of cards, he had already gone through over two full decks and was halfway through a third making a full scale model of himself.

"Getting there. How long do you think we gotta wait?" Chef replied.

"The other two should be back in about another twenty or so minutes. After that it could be a few hours."

* * *

"Ok, I've been doing some thinking about what we could make." Andi began, she and the rest of the Scorpions looked at their produce, it wasn't much but it was all they could get.

"And what exactly did you cone up with?" Ben asked, he sounded both intruiged and doubtful.

Before Andi could answer, the Bats entered the kitchen carrying everything they needed, Nanette was leading the group, she was wearing an apron on top of her usual clothes.

"Ok, Karlene, Jason, Shawn, Edward, and I will work on dinner, the rest if you will take care of dessert." Nanette announced.

The Bats got into their groups, Nanette's group worked on cutting and preparing cuts of beef and vegetables while preparing a pot on the stove.

"We don't have any more time!" Andi said, handing everyone copies of a recipe she picked out for them before they split up into two groups. Andi, Adrian, and Ben began to work on preparing chicken while the other three Scorpions began to peel sweet potatoes.

 ***confessionals***

 **Andi:** We didn't really have much time to plan but we did separate into groups which is good. I have faith in my team and I know that we can win this!

 **Nanette:** I'm confident that my team and I can win this challenge, my father placed me in a class that was taught by a professional chef after all. Though I suppose I can't let my guard down around the other team. Anyway, I had Edward be in my group for this challenge so that I can keep a close eye on him.

 **Adrian:** I think Andi made a good play separating us into groups, even if fhe Bats are doing the same, plus these recipies look like they don't take too long to cook. But with how seriously Nanette is taking this challenge, we could habe a problem.

 **Karlene:** Nanette won awards with how good her cooking is, so I think my team can win. But I just hope Ben doesn't get voted off if we win...

 **Edward:** Nanette definitely thinks I'm in an alliance, and she's right, but I can't let her know that.

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

Chelsea was in the library, it seemed like forever since she had some time to herself. She was reading one of the books Chef was reading at the beginning of the season, although she was interested in it, she didn't exactly know how Chef talked her into reading it.

Her attention was suddenly grabbed by a sound she definitely did not expect to hear; a baby crying...

Chelsea closed her book and for some reason, she followed the cries. She didn't want to, but she couldn't stop herself, her mind and body were being forced to move toward the voice rather than away like she wanted.

She stopped in front of the door to a closet in the library. Slowly, she opened the door, went inside and found herself in... The upstairs girl's bathroom?

'What? That's impossible!' Chelsea thought to herself.

She turned to look at the door behind her; it was closed, as if Chelsea never opened it.

Chelsea opened the door to leave the bathroom and suddenly found herself in one of the rooms in the basement.

"Please be quiet, my baby is sleeping!"

Chelsea had never heard that voice before, it was definitely of a woman, a man's voice responded in anger to the woman.

" _Your_ baby, but that should've been _our_ baby! Instead you had to run away with that spoiled imbecile!"

"I said _quiet_!" The woman responded.

Chelsea began to panic as she opened the door to the room, the voices were on the other side hut at this point she just wanted to get out of there.

Once again she found herself in another room... But this one was different. The overall feeling of the house itself different. As if all the negative energy that was there when Chelsea and the other teens first arrived was never there.

Despite this, Chelsea was still uneasy, especially with what was in front of her. It was a family. A mother, father, and a baby in a crib. The room itself was definitely for the baby, the walls were adorned in wallpaper that had a soft baby blue color to it. The room had a slight smell of baby powder but the open window allowed the smell of fresh mountain air to come in.

If it wasn't for the circunstances of how she got there, Chelsea would have liked being in this room as much as she liked the library.

The man and woman talked to each other but Chelsea couldn't hear anything they said, despite being able to see them as clear as day. Chelsea then got a good look at the woman, sensing something familiar about her, that's when she realised...

"Clara?"

Whoever this woman was, she looked eerily like Clara, albeit at least ten years older.

As soon as she spoke, everything went black. A different man seemed to materialze in front of Chelsea in an instant. This man's body was badly burnt, he opened his mouth to say something but the sound of an explosion overpowered his voice.

Chelsea saw that the source of the explosion was a machine, more specifically, a boiler.

As the explosion swallowed Chelsea, she felt nothing but a shockwave, and then she hit something solid.

...

Chelsea woke up. She was on the floor of the library. What just happened to her couldn't have been a dream, could it?

As she sat up at the table she was reading at before what happened, she noticed a few things there that were most definitely not there before.

There, on the table were several pictures. The quality was in good condition despite their obvious age. They consisted of the same couple she saw, wearing a wedding dress and tuxedo, the second was of the same couple holding the baby. The other pictures were of people she definitely didn't recognize but judging from the photos, they were friends of the couple.

The pictures weren't the only thing on the table though, and seeing the other object made Chelsea's blood run cold. There, sitting on the table was a revolver. Hesitantly, Chelsea reached for the weapon, thankfully there was no ammo.

Her hand trembled as she ran to go find Chris and Chef, the revolver in one of her hands and the pictures in the other.

 ***confessional***

 **Chelsea:** Ok, what the f*ck was that?!

 ***end confessional***

* * *

The sounds of knives cutting through produce and hitting chopping boards became as common as footsteps in the manor's kitchen. Andi's group had just finished preparing the chicken, Ben volunteered to cook the meat to keep suspicions off of him for the time. As Ben cooked the chicken, Adrian brought Andi outside of the kitchen.

"We need to talk about something. It's about the strange things that have been happening."

"What happened? Did something happen?" Andi asked, her face taking on a serious and worried tone.

"I found something that interesting but we should probably wait until this challenge is over to discuss things." Adrian replied.

"Right."

The two reentered the kitchen but there wasnt really much left to do at the moment so Adrian decided to talk to Josh and Andi went to go help the other members of the team who were now mashing the sweet potatoes.

On the other side of the kitchen, Clara was taking a tray with various small porcelain bowls with some sort of gelatinous substance out of the oven.

"Uh, Nanette, is it ready?" She asked.

Nanette went over to check on the bowls, placing them on the countertop and tapping the side of the bowl.

"Yes! They're perfect! Now there's one last thing we need to do, but it is a bit... ergh, strange. Even if it how Créme Brûlée is made." Nanette replied.

"And what is this 'last thing'?" Kaz asked.

Nanette didn't verbally respond, instead spreading some sugar on top of the dessert and dispersing it at evenly as she could. The Bats who were working on the desserts went wide-eyed as Nanette took out a small blowtorch and burned the sugar to the point where it liquefied and bubbled up for a few seconds before she turned the machine off and repeated the process to the five other bowls they prepared.

"Well... That works..." Emma said flatly. "I'm guessing we made six just to make sure they all turned oit alright?"

"Exactly, and like all good chefs we must taste our food before serving. But let's only try one bowl just in case." Nanette explained. "Now my favorite part about having Créme Brûlée isn't just the taste, it's the satisfying sound of the solidified crust breaking open when hitting it with a spoon. It's just so satisfying!"

Emma took a bowl and tapped the crust of the dessert with a small spoon, the sound of a light cracking could be heard, it was sort of like a mixture of an egg cracking, and a potato chip breaking.

As she was about to taste the first spoonful, Emma stopped herself and insteas offefed it to Kazuki. The young man looked surprised but smiled at Emma, his smile was not that of a sly smirk either but a genuine smile that made Emma's heart skip a beat.

Kaz respectfully declined the offer and let Emma have the first spoonful. As Emma was about to scoop up some of the custard, Nanette stopped her.

"Wait! I was wrong, there's still one more thing!" Nanette left for a moment and returned with something cupped in her hands. "Try it with these." She placed a few blueberries and strawberries with a mint leaf onto the custard, Emma ate a spoonful with a bit of everything and was taken aback by the flavor and how it meshed together perfectly.

"Mmm! That's so good! I think I know why you said it was your favorite dessert!" Emma squared.

"I think I know why said Clara reminds you of it too. Both look amazing!" Kenji added. Clara was taken by surprise by the sudden compliment but it made her smile, though the smile quickly turned into an embarrassed frown when the others began to tease the two about becoming a couple.

As the playful teasing went on, Kaz glanced at Clara with suspicion. Once Karlene stopped teasing Kenji and Clara, she looked over at Ben, a blush forming on Karlene's face as well.

 ***confessionals***

 **Karlene:** I've decided, I'm going to tell Ben how I feel now! I can't go on worrying about what Nanette thinks, I have to do what makes me happy!

 **Kazuki:** I'll be keeping my eye on Clara, if she hurts my brother I will make sure she leaves!

 ***end confessionals***

Karlene took a deep breath and went over to where Ben was standing. Everyone she was standing with went silent with confusion as to why she suddenly walked over to Ben.

"Hey, um, Ben?"

The Scorpion turned over the Karlene, he was confused, surprised, and a bit worried as to the reason why she might've walked over to him. Her face had a smile and an embarrassed blush.

"Yeah?" He replied.

"I can't keep this a secret anymore. For a while I've had a major crush on you but until now I've just been to scared to tell you. Now that I have I'm hoping that you and I can be, you know..." Karlene admitted. She couldn't keep eye contact with Ben when she finished talking.

Ben didn't move his head but he saw and felt everyone watching the two in anticipation of Ben's answer.

Ben had two choices at that moment, either say yes and be in a relationship he doesn't want to be in and potentially he seen as a bigger target, or say no and become an immediate target.

"I can't. No offense but you're just not the kind of girl I'm into." Ben said. "Besides it would be harder in the game on both of us if we got together. Sorry."

Karlene's heart felt as though it was shattered. But she didn't cry, she didn't want Nanette and the rest of her team seeing her as weak, despite how indescribably difficult it was for her at the moment to not let her emotions out.

 ***confessionals***

 **Kazuki:** After putting that much attention on himself, the alliance is in critical danger.

 **Ben:** Now the spotlight is on me, I did _not_ need this!

 **Edward:** I may have to... reconsider Benjamin's position in this alliance...

 **Andi:** Wow, harsh much?!

 **Clara:** I mean, Kenji is suoer nice and all and I guess we do connect. But if Karlene and Ben did become a thing that could have made things a lot less tense and awkward, and now...

 **Kenji:** Is she gonna be alright? That was harsh.

 **Jason:** Dang, I did not see that coming...

 ***end confessionals***

"Karlene, can you come with me for a sec?"

Karlene's sadness blended into a combination of sadness and fear when Nanette spoke to her. Jer friend brought her to the backyard, the two sat down on the steps looking out into the acre of a backyard in front of them.

"Karlene, why didn't you tell me about your feelings for Ben?"

"I-I-I-I was worried about what you would say if you found out." Karlene replied, her voice obviously choking back tears as her eyes teared up. Nanette placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, the two looked at each other. Nanette suddenly pulled Karlene into a hug.

"Karlene, I'm your friend, it doesn't matter who you like, I would've helped you either way!"

Upon hearing her friend's acceptance, Karlene finally let her emotions out.

"Time is up! Chef's starving and it wouldn't be smart to keep him waiting!" Chris announced.

"Why don't you stay out here and take it easy, I'm sure we'll be alright if you stay here."

As Nanette was about to head back inside, Karlene stopped crying and said one thing as she looked out into the now orange sky.

"Hey, Nanette... Thanks..."

* * *

A third table was added to the dining room, this one looking far more simole and plain compared to the other two. Chris wanted to bring out a more extravagent looking table and kitchenware for his friend and co-host but Chef insisted on using something simple.

"Alright, bring out your food and Chef will judge it. Chef will decide the winner based on which meal he liked more. Bats, you're up first." Chris announced.

Nanette and Edward brought out a pot and used a ladle to give Chef a bowl of beef with several different types of vegetables.

"To start you off we've prepared a delectable serving of Beef Bourguignon and for dessert, one of my personal favotites; Créme Brûlée with mixed berries." Nanette explained, a proud and confident grin on her face.

Chef silently finished his bowls, being sure to get every flavor within the food as possible as he ate every spoonful and piece of his food. Once he was finished, Chef placed his fork and knife together horizontally on his plate. Nanette breathed a sigh of relief when she saw this.

"I'm guessing you enjoyed your meal?" Chris asked.

"I did. You kids did alright." Chef said, he kept composed but aounded a bit impressed. "Next!"

Andi and Brian gave Chef seevings of the food they prepared; Soul-Smothered Chicken and Sweet Potato Pie for dessert. Upon seeing the food, Nanette couldn't help but snicker to herself about how... simple the food looked to her. The Scorpions panicked to themselves a bit when Chef looked at his food with his eyes wide in shock.

This panic spread to everyone in the room, even Chris, when Chef lifted his fork and knife to cut some of the chicken. The reason why was that Chef's hands were trembling. As Chef swallowed his bite of chicken, he froze... and then tears began to stream down his face.

"Momma..." He said in a low tone.

"Chef?" Chris asked out of concern.

"This tastes just like my momma use to make it, back when I was just a boy... This team wins! No question!" Chef exclaimed, wiping the tears from his face as he began to eat the rest of his food while reminiscing about his youth.

"Well, you heard the man! The Silver Scorpions win!"

The Scorpions cheered and sighed with relief, Josh and Adrian hugged for a moment before separating. Edward amd Kaz shared a look towarda each other and Ben. Nanette seemed to brush off her loss, understanding why Chef made the decision, but her attention was on Ben...

 ***confessionals***

 **Ben:** Well, I'm guaranteed safety for now, and I know Edward will probably make the right choice in getting rid of either Nanette or Kaz. That other girl could also be a prime candidate for the boot for having a crush on someone on the other team. But whatever happens now, happens.

 **Edward:** Ben potentially put a big spotlight on the alliance and Kaz is a loose cannon, both jave their uses so I could keep them both for a little while longer. Voting off Kenji or Clara could potentially cause a volatile chain reaction, which would be interesting to see. But I think getting rid of someone useless is still the best course of action. I have a few choices...

 **Kazuki:** Voting off Karlene might not be the best choice, it would make things too suspicious, Nanette was the head chef, more or less, so...

 **Nanette:** I will make Ben pay, I swear it! From the moment Karlene approached him earlier my heart almost stopped from the heartburn! But I need to focus on the vote tonight.

 **Kenji:** Two losses in a row, maybe I am a jinx...

 **Jason:** Am I cursed or something? Anyway, if what Nanette said is true, then Ed and Kaz are up to something and I gotta watch out for them.

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

The Bronze Bats were casting their votes, Ben was in a cold sweat of fear as he sat underneath the box in which the votes were collected, replacing them with the alliance's chosen target. Once the rigging was complete, Chris took the votes and took his spot in front of the Bats, some giving suspicious glances to others.

"Today has definitely been an interesting one! You almost had that win, but you just can't beat nostalgic cooking that's just like mom use to make! Anyway, the votes have been tallied and the first marshmallow goes to; Emma."

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"Clara."

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"Kenji."

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"Shawn."

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"Kazuki. So, Nanette, Karlene, Edward, and Jason. Three of you have pretty good reasons as to why you have at least one vote against you, I'll leave those reasons silent as you all might have your motivations. But the next marshmallow goes to..."

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"Karlene."

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"Edward." Nanette twitched a bit in shock, the others also looked shocked but Chris shushed them before they could speak.

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to..."

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"Nanette. Jason, your silver chariot awaits." Chris said.

"Well, I'd say I had a good run. Karlene, I'm sorry about what happened today. Clara, you and Kenji look nice together, and it's obvious you two like each other. Nanette, I gotta say, I never thought a biker thug like me would ever get along with a high-class lady but hey, here we are. Shawn, you and Kenji are some really cool guys, you know that? As for Kaz and Ed, I don't know if you two are up to something, but if I find out you two got me voted off then-"

Jason was unable to finish as Chris pushed him into the train, which then sped off.

"Yeah, we're kinda on a schedule here! Anyway, Brinze Bats, you're free to leave.

* * *

Ben was sitting down underneath a tree a few minutes after the elimination. He had just helped rig the votes to avoid Edward get voted off... again. He heard a rustling noise in the bushes a few feet away. A black bear came out if the brush but seemed to hurry away in a different direction. What worried Ben though was that the bear seemed afraid, as he turned in the direction the bear came from.

He saw Nanette with a bowl of the Créme Brûlée in one hand and a large spoon with something deep brown in the other hand. Upon looking at the spoon, Ben smelled something horrifying, and he knew exactly what it was.

He wasn't sure how exactly but hefore he knew it, Nanette pinned him down against the ground underneath the tree with her left foot. In his current position, he finally looked at Nanette's face... Her face was one of pure rage. Not one of murderous intent but definitely one that wanted vengeance.

Nanette took the large spoon and mixed it into the custard, turning it from a soft yellow color into a gaudy and ghastly brown.

"You broke my friend's heart and I know you rigged the votes. _This_ is what you get!" She said, her voice calm but harsh. She took the spoon out, a large glob of the tainted custard on it. Nanette placed the bowl on the ground and used her now free hand to keep Ben's head still and his mouth open.

Ben wanted to scream out for help but he just couldn't... In one swift motion, Nanette force fed Ben the tainted custard, forcing him to swallow it as well.

Chris saw all of this from the office.

"Nasty!" He laughed. "Looks like Nanette got her revenge! We're now down to twelve contestants will the Scorpions keep up this hot winning streak? Or are they just getting lucky? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

"So you found newspapers?" Clara asked, though it wasn't exactly a question as much as it was a confused statement. She looked over at the book of newspaper stories that Adrian brought from the library.

"Yes. I skimmed through it earloer and found one particularly disturbing one that you might want to look at, it's on the last page." Adrian replied. Andi turned to the page and the girls flinched when they saw the picture.

'Disaster at the Rosewood Manor: Anthony Rosewood and his wife were found murdered after what appeares to be an attack by an unknown assailant. The victims were found to have lacerations along their eyes reaching their mouths, several burns, and in the case of the pregnant Angela Rosewood, six bullet wounds in her abdomen. Their baby of eight months and unborn child were-'

The rest of the text was illegible. Clara and Andi were horrified after reading the text but thankful they didn't show any pictures.

"That. That's awful!" Andi said in horror.

"The text cuts off a bit, but look at the next page." Adrian said, his tone dropping a bit.

The girls turned the page, it was more text but it was readable.

'In addition to the murder of the owners if the manor, the building itself was badly damaged by the explosion of the house's boiler. Approximately 70% of the building was destroyed by the explosion and ensuing flames. The perpetrator of these crimes is potentially still at large.'

The three continue to talk about their findings until they decided to head to bed...

* * *

Chelsea was still awake, she just couldn't get the thought of having a gun in the manor out of her mind. She gave it to Chris and Chef earlier and they swore they would keep it locked up. Even if they could be shrewd tricksters, Chelsea had never seen them act so serious before. Just before she went to sleep she knew she saw a familiar red figure in her room.

* * *

 **There's no need for worry, we are more than secure with out current finances and we have everything we could possibly need to keep our child safe and to habe them grow up to he healthy!**

 **...**

 **Not to worry, my mother and father are spending their days of retirement in town. While they are nearing a rather old age they assured me that they would have no problem being with our baby.**

 **...**

 **They did? Well that means that our child will always have a guardian!**

 **...**

 **See, you have nothing to fear! I know the three of us will live a long and wonderdul life!**


	14. Out With A Bang

**Sorry about the extremely late chapter, I had am extremely bad case of writers block but this story WILL continue! Enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

"Previously on Total Drama Rosewood Manor; the heat was on as our teams cooked up a storm in a rather nostalgic challenge that called back to Total Drama's first season. The Bronze Bats tried a French cuisine that almost looked good enough for me and my exquisite tastes. But it ultimately fell flat against the Silver Scorpions and their Soul Food recipe in the eyes of our judge, Chef. Not only that, but it seems like the Bats may just have a recipe for disaster with the current state of their team. If it isn't a broken heart and the one who broke it causing a problem, it's the alliance currently causing mayhem in the form of rigging votes. Speaking of which, Jason was the latest victim of foul play and was next to take the ride on the Train of Shame! Thirteen contestants remain, who will taste victory and who will be left with a bitter taste in their mouth? Find out right now on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!"

* * *

Edward's night after Jason's elimination was rather taxing on him. He slept while lucid dreaming, he wasn't sure how exactly he did it but he didn't really care at this moment. All he was focusing on right now was what to do about the current state of his alliance. Nanette had already caught on about it and she was quickly getting everyone else to believe and they couldn't rig the votes forever. There was also the matter of the alliance itself being extremely volatile.

Kazuki was a loose cannon and would react violently whenever Ben spoke badly about his family, which struck Edward as a bit odd since they don't seem to fond of him, or at least aren't too happy towards him. But despite that he was the muscle of the group and if Edward needed it, he could easily just be used as a scapegoat.

Then there was Ben, he was definitely the more rational of the two, at least in the eyes of Edward. But the events of the challenge earlier have brought unnecessary attention to tje alliance. If the others didn't have confirmed knowledge of it now, they were at least very sure there was one.

Edward didn't have many options to survive. If his team were to win the next challenge then it would only delay his dilemma. If they were to lose then he would have might have to turn his back on one of his associates. There were also the two statues, if he found the Chris statue he wouldn't have to worry about anyone trying to vote him off. But if he found the one based on Chef then he could get rid of Nanette, the biggest threat to the alliance, but even doing that could potentially reveal his status as a member of the alliance, which would confirm the suspicions everyone has been having.

This was a problem that most definitely needed to be taken care of as soon as possible. Eventually, Edward's mind shifted into other things until he passed onto deep sleep.

* * *

The sun soon arose and eventually everyone was in the doning room waiting for breakfast, buy they were instead greeted by two large trays on the tables of each team, the trays were covered with a metal cover that was warm when Kenji and Andi went to uncover them. The dishes themselves were revealed to be pancakes.

Right next to the Scorpions' tray was a note which Josh read aloud.

"Working on the challenge right now, enjoy your breakfast. I'll be down there when everything us set up."

"Well I guess this could be one breakfast we can enjoy in peace." Josh said. Everyone got some plates and started piling pancakes onto them. As Karlene got some breakfast, Shawn placed a hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle smile.

"Hey, are you feeling any better?' He asked.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Karlene replied, smiling back at Shawn.

 ***confessionals***

 **Ben:** After what happened yesterday I have a huge target on my back, the worst part is that I never wanted any of this! I don't think I deserve it either amd that French girl made me... UGH!

 **Nanette:** I believe that I gave Benjamin his... Just desserts, so to speak. But while karmic retribution is nice it doesn't help me in the long run, Ben is only part of a larger problem and if he gets voted off now then there's a good chance that anyone he's in an alliance with could try to make their next move and if they do it can give everyone the chance to find out who they are!

 **Karlene:** I'm still not completely over what happened yesterday. I mean I'm not upset or angry with Ben, I guess I just need some time to think about things. At least I habe great friends like Nanette, Clara and Shawn to help me.

 **Josh:** Y'know sometimes I wonder if the audience ever thinks the Total Drama series is like a pancake; best enjoyed fresh and prepared correctly but bad when left in the open too long to grow stale...

 **Adrian:** I'm surprised Chef decided to make something edible for once. But I need to focus on the three main issues I have right now: This mysterious alliance that's causing mischief, getting further ahead in the game, and the mystery about this house. For bow I suppose I can only work on the first two, Andrometa, Clara, Shawn, abd I have been trying to piece together as much information as we can but we don't know enough information yet.

 **Shawn:** Talking to Karlene has honestly gotten my mind off of the whole haunted mansion issue but I do think I might have to try to get Ben voted off. He did hurt Karlene and if he's part of this alliance that might be sneaking around then it'll be a big gain for everyone if he leaves.

 **Brian:** At first I thought it was great that Chris was giving us a bit of a break, but then I realized that, just like a pancake, he's buttering us up just to stick a fork in us later!

 **Kenji:** So after that incident with Ben yesterday, I'm pretty positive he's involved in whatever Kazuki is up to. I knew Kaz wasn't alone!

 **Kazuki:** Ben just royally screwed us over, Ed and I are thinking about dumping him from the alliance, but if we win the next challenge it might just end up prolonging this issue.

 **Andi:** Alright, so from what we've found out about this house, Anthony and Angela married and lived in this house, with them being stalked and harassed for years by Henry, this guy that's been in love with Angela. Then something happened that ejded with part of the house exploding and being lit on fire, Angela and Anthony were killed and potentially both if their kids as well.

 **Emma:** I keep holding off on telling Kazuki how I feel, and I know I can't do that forever, one if us might be voted off and if that happens I'll just lose my chance... I wish my sister was here to help.

 **David:** At the Station everyone stays at when they get voted off theres a bunch of cool stuff like a pool and a jacuzzi, buffets, an arcade, and more stuff like that. It's kinda like the Playa De Losers from the first season. Everyone who wanted to go back into the game could look for one of those tickets. Lo and behold, yours truly is back.

 **Clara:** I came onto this show to try and win a million bucks and now I'm here solving a mystery. It's definitely one way to spend a summer...

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

About a half hour passed, everyone expected Chris to enter and declare the challenge but he never came. Everyone agreed on waiting for a few minutes but Chris still didn't show up.

"Ah, I'm sick of waiting." Kenji announced. I'm gonna go see if there's any soccer balls in the shed. Anyone up for a game?"

A few of the teens seemed eager to play and everyone left the dining room. But as soon as they entered the foyer that saw Chris headong down the stairs, he was wearing a gas mask. Chris took the mask off and used a handkerchief to wipe away a bit of oil he had on his face.

"Oh hey, sorry about keeping you all waiting." He said. "Chef and I just finished setting up today's challenge."

"Well there goes the soccer idea." Kenji sighed.

"Now since you're all here, let's get right into the challenge. By now I'm sure you're all well accustomed to the layout of this place so getting around shouldn't be too much of a problem. Scattered around the area are six bombs, three for each team and they're color coded for your convenience. All you have to do is find some way to deactivate them all before time runs out, which should be around sundown. First team to deactivate all three wins, but it won't be that easy. The bombs aren't pinned down in any way, so if you find another team's bomb, you are allowed to move it to another location. But there's a catch, we've also set a distance lock on the bombs, take them too far away from the manor and they'll explode and the team who's bomb was being moved will get a point." Chris explained.

"Still, the concept of bombs in a place like this seems a little extreme." Brian noted.

"I can see why you'd think that but these bombs have been specially made in a way that ensures the explosions are non-lethal and won't cause any structural damage to the building. Now before I begin the challenge I feel like everyone forgot about this; the McLean Invincibility Statue and Chef Hatchet Elimination Statue are still hidden and up for grabs. Anyone who finds it could potentially become the nost powerful player in the game. But for now, let the challenge begin!"

 ***confessionals***

 **Edward:** I was hoping Chris wouldn't mention that bit about the statues, I've been spending my free time looking for them so I could stay safe. But in hindsight it was only a matter of time before I or someone else found them.

 **Kenji:** I'm gonna be honest here, I forgot all about those statues.

 **Andi:** I totally forgot avout those things! I hope nobody found one of them yet!

 **Clara:** To be fair, I only forgot about those statues because of the whole ghosts issue.

 **Adrian:** I spent a bit of my time looking for the statues but I've had no luck. Granted I didn't look everywhere yet.

 **Ben:** I gotta find one of those statues, if I do then I won't have to worry about getting found out!

 **Nanette:** I must find that Chef Hatchet statue and get rid of Ben as soon as possible!

 ***end confessionals***

Both teams immediately headed in different directions, the Scorpions headed outaide while the Bats went towards the library. As soon as the Scorpions all regrouped in the backyard however they realized that they might have made an error.

"Wait, Chris didn't exactly tell us or give any distinction as to where our team's bombs could be, so there's a chance one of our bombs could be in the manor somewhere. Maybe even in the library since that's where the Bats went." Adrian stated.

"If that's the case, maybe we should split up into two groups, if we cover more ground then we just might be able to win this challenge reasonably fast." Brian added. "So we shpuld split up into two groups of three."

"Chris said the bombs are scattered around the area, right? So there might be a bomb in the graveyard." David proposed.

"Maybe, but there are also a ton of places inside where a bomb could also be." Andi responded. "Brian's right, we should split up into groups. I'm going back inside; Adrian, would you and Josh mind coming to look with me?"

"Not at all." "Fine by me." The two boys responded, leaving Ben and Brian to go with David.

"Alright, looks like we've got a plan." Brian said. The two groups were about to separate, but before they left, Andi grabbed David's arm.

"Hey, do you and Brian mind keeping an eye on Ben? I don't trust him and he's definitely up to something."

David gave Andi a thumbs up before heading to the cemetery.

 ***confessional***

 **David:** I definitely don't blame Andi for being suspicious of Ben, I'm pretty sure everyone is. I just wish I knew exactly what he's up to. At the Station where everyone who got voted off stays at, we can watch what happens in the game but its edited to remove all the confessionals and anything Chris thinks could give us any type of advantage if we got back into the game.

 ***end confessional***

* * *

The Bronze Bats stayed in one large group as they entered the library, while the room was rather large, it didn't take very long for the team to find a bomb between two bookshelf. It was crudely painted and it's rusty bronze color strangely camoflagued with the rest of the room. A small green light glowed ominously from the top of the weapon.

"Hmm, didn't think finding this thing would be so easy." Kenji said, he looked rather unimpressed.

"Well finding it was the easy bit, shutting this thing off is the hard part." Clara replied.

While the team conversed on how they would deactivate the bomb, Edward snuck away from the group and began to look for one if the statues. If he couldn't find it then he figured he would at least find a book that might help with the challenge. It was a stretch but not impossible.

After about two or three minutes Edward found a rather strange book. It was dull and gray, like it was meant to be seen as a fake, it poked out from its shelf at an odd angle, pressing two large books together. Edward adjusted the monochrome book and heard a very faint click from the bookshelf and a sliding sound from above. A ladder descended from the ceiling and in front of Edward.

Seizing the opportunity to potentially discover something that might help him, Edward clinbed the ladder and entered a soace Chris surprisingly hadn't mentioned when he showes everyone the manor during the beginning of the game; the attic.

In hindsight, he should have known there was an attic, the staircase to the roof seemed to go upwards to an extent where another floor could fit in the building.

The attic itself was dark and silent. Some small windows allowed light to creep in, making things in the attic look as though there was a spotlight shining in them. Thats when Edward saw something that made Chris or Chef look lile a fan of clichés. The sunlight shone in the statue of Chef Hatchet, as if it was a gift from the heavens. To Edward it pretty much was just that.

Edward took the idol and quickly headed back to his team, who didn't seem to notice that he left as they were too busy focusing on the bomb. They had managed to open it, revealing multiple wires varying in colors from red, green, pink, blue, gold, black, and white. All of the wires were connected to a clear container with what looked like some kind of soap inside.

"Let me guess." Clara deduced. "We have to cut one of the wires."

"Probably, so which wire do we cut?" Kenji replied.

Kazuki took out a switchblade from his left pocket and made a move to cut one of the wires before Emma stopped him.

"Wait! What if you cut the wrong one and it blows up?!" Her tone seemed to be more out of worry than anything else.

"Chris said these bombs won't kill us, right? So if I cut the wrong wire you guys can just vote me out of the game." Kaz replied, proceeding to cut the red wire. The rest of the team either backed away, or got behind something/someone. Though their panic turned into relief when the green light on the bomb turned off.

"That's one down. Now lets find the other two and be done with this." Kaz said, as he pocketed his blade.

 ***confessionals***

 **Kazuki:** Honestly if I ever actually get voted off I know I can find one of those tickets to get back into the game, no big deal.

 **Edward:** I just became the most powerful player in the game. Whatever happens today doesn't matter anymore.

 **Emma:** Right now I'm just glad Kazuki didn't get himself hurt, but if he cut the wrong wire he might have gotten himself voted off and I honestly think that's just as bad!

 **Nanette:** I'm not sure if that boy is crazy or impossibly brave.

 **Karlene:** I think my heart stopped out of pure fear back there!

 **Clara:** Kenji was definitely rght when he said his brother is intense!

 **Kenji:** My brother has done some crazy things before but that was top five craziest for sure!

 **Shawn:** That guy must have cojones of pure iron to do that!

 ***end confessionals***

* * *

David was correct in his assumption that there was a bomb in the graveyard. The silver bomb clashed with the dull grays and browns of the graveyard so the boys were able to see it easily. But disarming the bomb would be harder than finding it.

The bomb was open and the wires had all been exposed, this bomb even had the same container of soap inside. All the three boys had to do was agree on what to do next.

"So we have to cut one of these wires for sure." Ben said, as if to reassure himself.

"But the major question is, which one?" David replied.

"Cutting the red wire would be cliché, but then again Chris might actually pull something like that." Brian stated.

"Then how about this then, if the light on top is green then why not cut the green wire. It's a dumb reason but I can't think of anything else." David proposed.

"Well it's worth a try." Ben sighed, forcing apart the wire. The three for something to happen. The bomb didn't explode and it didn't deactivate either.

"...Well that didn't work." Brian said flatly.

"Gee, you think?" Ben remarked, promopting an annoyed look from the other boys. "Look, if the green wire didn't work, what about the blue wire?"

"Like you said, it's worth a try." David repeated. Ben cut the blue wire by twisting it and then pulling, as soon as he cut it, the green light slowly dimmed until it was completely turned off.

"Alright, that's one. Let's just hope the others are as lucky as we were with this."

* * *

"We're running out of wires!" Andi said, a growing panic in her voice. The three teens were in the kitchen, diffusing the second bomb for their team, though they believed it was their first.

"Alright, it wasn't red, green, or blue. What would make the most sense?" Adrian thought aloud.

"Alright this is kind of a lame reason but Chris likes making things more in your face and almost flamboyant in a way. So it could be the gold wire." Josh proposed.

"Well Chris is that kind of person, to an extent..." Adrian pondered.

"Plus think of the teams;The _Bronze_ Bats and the _Silver_ Scorpions?" Andi added.

"We'll I've heard of, and seen, crazier things." Adrian sighed before cutting the gold wire, using one of Chef's knives to do the deed. The bomb's green light turned off, allowing the three Scorpions to breathe easy for the moment.

"Alright, we got one, now we just have to hope that David's hunch was correct and there was a bomb in the cemetery." Andi said.

"Well we have no time to think about that, we need to move!" Adrian replied, the three teens then exited the kitchen in pursuit of the last bomb.

* * *

The Bats found their second bomb in the Elimination Station, however they encountered the same issue as they did the first time. Kaz insisted on citting the red wire again but Emma was more quick to stop him.

"No!" She said, grabbing his arm.

"Why shouldn't I cut the wire?" Kazuki asked, he didn't look annoyed at Emma, he looked genuinely curious and even a bit impressed at how this timid girl was standing up to him

"O-oh! Um..."

Emma found herself stammering and quickly blushing.

"There's no way you can get lucky twice." Kenji stated.

"Hmm... I guess you got a point, so what wire would _you_ cut, brother?"

Kenji was now the one who was silent. He had no idea and was getting embarrassed about the sudden attention.

"What about the white wire? I know it's a random choice but at this point we're all just taking shots in the dark aren't we?" Clara proposed, Kenji gave her a silent 'thank you' for getting him out of that situation.

"Alright then." Kaz shrugged as he cut the white wire. Thankfully for the Bats, this guess was correct as the bomb shut off.

"Alright, two down and one more to go." Shawn exclaimed.

"Now where haven't we checked?" Karlene thought out loud.

* * *

Ben, David, and Brian made their way to the rooftop, it seemed like an obvious spot for Chris to leave a bomb amd their suspicion was correct, although not entirely. The bomb that was on the roof was that of the Bats.

"Dang, and here I was thinking we could get two out of the way." David groaned.

"Hold on, Chris we can move the other team's bombs but we have to stay within the area." Brian noted.

"So we can make things more difficult for the other team, and I think I have the perfect place to hide this." Ben said with a sly grin, he lifted up the bomb, which didn't seem to he too heavy for him.

"You're sure about this?" Brian asked.

"Very sure. Why don't you two find the others, I'll hide this someplace the other team will never find it!" Ben assured.

"Alright, we'll hold you to that." David said. The three went back downstairs and separated at the foyer. Brian and David headed to the library while Ben went to the hallway with everyone's bedrooms, stopping at Kazuki and Edward's room. He left the bomb there and was about to leave when he heard voices from the hallway.

"Maybe it's on the roof?" "That's the only place we haven't checked besides the backyard."

He recognized the voices as Karlene's and Shawn's, he closed the door to the bedroom as much as he could while leaving enough room for him to see out into the hallway. The Bats walked past him, Kaz and Edward behind the others, as soon the two were by the door, Ben pulled them inside.

"Sorry avout that, but I have the last bomb here, I know we planned to get rid of Nanette but I don't trust Adrian. He's a sort of enigma since this game began and if he stays for too lonv he could be a problem." Ben explained.

The other boys shrugged as they got to work on the bomb, Ben left the room to go find the rest of his team, he couldn't risk them getting more suspicious than they may have already been. Edward waited a moment before he spoke.

"So I've been thinking about Ben's usefulness to the alliance..."

* * *

Andi, Adrian, and Josh exited the hallway leading to the Elimination Station, finding nothing there.

"Hey, did you find anything?"

The three saw Brian and David walking towards them.

"Not back there." Andi answered. "But we did find one bomb in the kitchen."

"Nice, so we've got two then." Brian stated.

"Where's Ben?" Adrian asked. "Wasn't he with you?"

"Yeah, we found one if the Bats' bombs on the roof, Ben said he'd go and hide it somewhere that they would never be able to find." David explained, still unsure if Ben could do that.

"Well, we still need to find that last bomb. We checked everywhere that Chris would logically put a bomb." Josh pondered.

"Wait!" Brian said. "What about that old shed in the backyard?"

"I don't think we checked there." Andi replied.

"We didn't go there either, let's hurry!" David added

* * *

"So we've reached an agreement then?" Edward asked.

"I suppose we have." Kazuki replied, cutting the green wire on the final bomb for his team. He had already cut the red, blue, white, and gold wires.

"Looks like Chris set up all of these to explode on some sort of remote instead of a timer."

"Looks like it, hell, most if these wires look like they're here for show. Only one wire out of them all actually seems to do anything." Kaz said. The two were talking casually, not even breaking a sweat even with a live bomb in front of them.

"Well, at least we're safe fir the moment." Edward said. Kaz cut the final wire and deactivated the bomb.

"The Bronze Bats have deactivated all three bombs. Silver Scorpions, tonight youre sending someone home!" Chris announced.

"What?!" Andi said in shock.

"Argh! I knew he would screw up! 'The perfect place to hide it's he says!" David shouted in frustration.

* * *

Later that evening, everyone was getting ready for dinner, except for Chelsea, who decided to order some takeout for herself and the other interns. As she ate she looked over the footage from the previous day, there wasn't anything else good on TV and she didn't want to read every book in the library before the merge.

Despite how nervous she was as she eatched the footage, the memory of what happened last time she did so still in her head, she noticed two things that intruiged her; the alliance consistently going into the basement. The second of which was seeing Andi, Shawn, Clara, and Adrian meeting up to converse about the paranormal activity that's been occurring since the show began.

Chelsea looked over to where the photos she found were and checked the live feed of the shows.

* * *

"Silver Scorpions, you seemed to be on a bit of a roll but now you all find yourself back here again. I'm sure you all know how this works, so now make your votes. Tonight, you will go down from a team of six to a team of five. Go on and cast your votes."

 ***confessionals***

 **Andi:** I wasn't sure if I should vote for him, but with how distant he is to the rest of the team and after what happened today, maybe it's for the best.

 **Brian:** Something just doesn't feel right about you...

 **Josh:** And here I was thinking that we could somehow bounce back with our strategy...

 **David:** He said he could hide it and they still won. Either he hid the bomb in a place that they could still find, which they might have. Or he sabotaged our team, either way it doesn't look good for Ben.

 **Ben:** Ed's a smart guy, I know he still needs me for the alliance! They'll just rig the votes and get Adrian out of the game. No sweat.

 **Adrian:** I believe that I should be safe today, apparently Ben assured David and Brian that he could hide the bomb but he failed, so Ben might be in a touch spot.

 ***end confessionals***

"Alright." Chris began. "The votes have all been tallied and the following contestants are safe... David."

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"Andromita."

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"Brian."

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"And Josh. Adrian, down to the final two because maybe your team sees you as a threat in the future? Ben, you messed up today and cost your team the challenge."

Both boys were silent, however while Adrian looked serious ans even a bit nervous, Ben was calm and had a bit of a confident smile on his face. Josh looked nervous and silently prayed for Adrian to be safe.

"The final marshmallow goes to..."

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"Adrian."

"What?! How?!" Ben said in shock, finally breaking from his calm demeanor.

"How? You screwed up, that's how!" David retorted.

"Those grease ball bastards! They should've had my back!" Ben shouted.

"What?" "Who?" Adrian and Brian asked almost simultaneously.

"They were supposed to bail me out! I THOUGHT WE HAD A DEAL!" Ben continued.

"Who are you talking about? Who's 'they'?" David asked.

Chef tossed Ben onto the train, as he got up and dusted himself off, he tried to speak.

"You guys gotta watch out for those backstabbers! You can't trust-"

The train doors closed before he could finish, the others could only hear his muffled shouts of frustration as the train sped off.

"Oh things are getting juicy! Can the Silver Scorpions bounce back with a team of five? Or is this the beginning of their end? Find out next time on Total Drama Rosewood Manor!" Chris signed off.

* * *

Chelsea called the group investigating the house into the library. The general atmosphere of the room was so much more sinister than in the daytime. Chelsea had been showing the group the photos she found.

"So this couple definitely had at least one child, but this newspaper doesn't explain what happened to them after the house exploded, it was too badly smudged to read. So we may have to assume the worst." Andi explained.

"But this other guy, Henry, what if he's involved in this somehow?" Shawn asked.

At the mention of Henry's name, a cackling laugh was heard and immediately afterwards, the lights in the library completely turned off. Not even the light of the outside was able to enter the windows, it was completely pitch black.

Chelsea took out a lighter and lit it, the light produced by it was enough for them to see each other. The light of the flame reflected off of the windows, the reflection loomed like a blurry version of the teens but there was a new digure with them. This figure was pure red and looked like it wore torn clothes of a long bygone era.

Chelsea, upon seeing this figure and recognizing it from the lawnmower incident, backed away into a bookshelf. The moment she made contact with the bookshelf, a click was heard. The shelf then began to slide to the left, revealing a ladder going into the basement.

When the ladder was revealed, all of the teens felt drawn to go down and explore the basement. They didn't want to go, but it was as if their bodies were being pulled to the ladder. One by one they all climbed down...

The room they wound up in was rather small amd empty, except for a portrait of Angela, none of them could see it though because of the darkness. The ladder retracted and the entrance became hidden again, leaving them all with only one way to go.

The teens entered the hallway which all seemed to be littered with the same portrait of Angela, despite the lack of lights, everyone could see the hallway clearly. Adrian took a step forward, and as he did all of the portraits began to dissolve and transform. Angela's hair went from a warm brown to a cold black, her skin went from an olive tone to pure white, her sweet smile turned into one of madness and her eyes became sunken and pure black. A wide gash went from her eye to the side of her face.

"Well I'm not sleeping tonight..." Chelsea sighed. The rest of the teens stepped forward and the feeling of fear multiplied when the corrupted portraits began to reach out into the air for them.

All of them ran in panic from the haunted artwork, they could almost hear the sound if a woman calling out to them as they did. The hallway seemed to stretch on for a mile as they were running for apmost twenty minutes. Eventually they arrived at the boiler room and they all stood in shock and horror at the sight of what was hanging above the boiler.

Hanging from what looked like wires was a giant version of the ghost woman that was reaching out to them in the hallway. Her body was contorted and hanging in a way that made her look as though she fell off of a building. Her stomach seemed enlarged and stretched, as though it was pregnant...

The ghost woman faced them and opened her mouth to speak but the teens all blacked out before she could say anything.

They all groggily awoke in their rooms, their vision was hazy and they were all exhausted. They only had enough energy to change into their pajamas before they all blacked out for the rest of the night...

* * *

 **He's come back again hasn't he...**

 **...**

 **Well he cannot keep harrassing us like this! It's been over a decade!**

 **...**

 **W-what was that?!**

 **...**

 **Oh dear Lord! We must keep him away from the baby!**


End file.
